Lou-pie: ugh, I really don't like my job and it's only the sixth day I started. Cleaning an athletic club is hard with only two people since you have a time limit, so you have to go really fast. I rather vacuum and mop than clean the toilets and locker rooms. Anyways! I already have 13 reviews so far, so I'm happy that a lot of people are enjoying themselves! I'm really starting to enjoy typing this story more than I am with the I'm Yours one. Maybe because snakes are awesome and my older brother has one… I think that's probably where I got the idea from… onto the story!
Rating: PG-NC17
Pairing: SasuNaru… more to come.
Disclaimer: don't own… dammit!
Chapter 2
May 18, 1860 ?
Blue eyes winced as Naruto began to come out of the darkness of sleep and wake up to the sun shining down on him, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore echoing in his ears. He was hot, despite being naked, and his backside felt gritty and it did not feel all that comfortable. He blinked opened his eyes slowly, getting used to the brightness, and sat up with a groan. His body was sore all over and felt disgusting… but from what?
"Where am I?" he asked himself as he examined his surroundings. He was at a beach with bluish/greenish water and white sand, the beach going on for miles on both sides of him. Behind him was a jungle filled with plants and trees that Naruto had never seen before and they were quite large. He stood; grimacing at the sand rubbing in places they shouldn't be and went down to the water to wash off. "What happened?"
He remembered pirates, hiding in some storage place of Kakashi's, being found, and then almost… raped before something hit the boat, and then he, Kiba, Kakashi, and Neji got into a life boat and… wait. No… he didn't, he fell into the blackness of the sea. That's where everything went blank. The blond cursed at his bad luck and kicked up some sand in his anger. Now where were his friends and captain? What happened to them? Were they alright? He only had questions that couldn't be answered at the moment.
With an irritated growl, he began to walk along the beach side towards his left, hoping he could probably find something useful. The white sand was nice and hot against his feet and the breeze dried his skin and kept him cool. Sooner or later, though, he was going to have to find some water and something to put it in. He'd think about that later when he felt dehydrated enough. However, he had to find something to eat and now; he was starving.
Glancing back to the jungle, Naruto began debating on whether to probably waste time fishing by hand or go into the jungle and find fruit where there could be dangerous creatures. His stomach decided for him by giving a large growl. The blond sighed and began to make his way to the jungle, wishing he had some shoes when he saw that the ground was covered in dirt with sharp rocks and sharp grass. His hunger though, quickly dissipated that thought.
Blue eyes glanced from tree to tree, bush to bush, and one point of the ground to another. It wasn't until he was rather far in until he found a tree covered in little red moneys with white faces, eating a strange look fruit that was purple on the outside, but green on the inside. The fruit must be edible since the monkeys were eating them so Naruto began to make his way up the large, gnarled tree and up to the lowest branch that had a couple of the fruit. A monkey that was sitting on that branch, however, was not particularly happy at the human coming towards it.
Naruto had wrapped his hands and legs around the branch and scooted his way along the thick branch, reaching out for the purple thing. The monkey he had scooted close to, however, scratched his hand, thinking the blond was trying to hurt him. Naruto yelped at the scratch and brought his hand up to his mouth, sucking on the painful wound with a glare towards the animal. The monkey yelled at him angrily, baring its short teeth in warning, but Naruto was not scared and snarled back loudly, which had the little animal jump to another branch with an angry yell.
Smirking in victory, the blond grabbed the fruit and pulled it from its leafy nest, feeling nice and smooth in his hand. He sat back on his ass and brought the fruit to his mouth, taking a small, hesitant bite. Sweet nectar flooded into his mouth and down his chin, the flesh soft but gummy. It was delicious, but there were many tiny white seeds and it irritated the blond whenever he took a bite he had to spit out five to six seeds. He would have swallowed them, but he didn't know if they were toxic or not… hell, he didn't know if the fruit itself was safe to eat.
Naruto finished off his breakfast and grabbed another one, finishing it off quickly. The nectar inside the fruit had quenched his thirst, so the blond grabbed a couple more and dropped them to the ground on a grassy spot so he could climb down without anything in his arms. However, when he went to grab for one last fruit that was hidden beneath one of the large leaves the tree held, a rather large spider came crawling out and onto his hand that had disturbed its nest.
The blond cried out in shock and shook his hand, flinging the insect into the tree next to him. In doing so, he lost his balance and slid off the smooth branch with flailing arms and down into the grassy area where his fruit was, squishing most of them with his back. Naruto groaned in pain and at the sticky feeling against his back, laying there until the world stopped spinning. He got up with a hiss and a curse, taking a few deep breaths to settle his stomach.
Grabbing whatever fruit that hadn't been squished, Naruto began to make his way back to the beach… but wait. Where was the beach? Which direction had he come from? Giving another curse at his idiocy, Naruto dropped his fruit and picked a random direction to follow, stomping as he went and disturbing the small critters around him. He pushed aside plants and jumped over large roots or fallen trees (making sure he didn't hurt his junk in the process), a scowl on his face the whole time.
Unknown to him, piercing red eyes were watching his every move in the shadows.
?
"This place sucks balls," Naruto whined from where he sat on a tree stump, a little uncomfortable on his bare rear. "But it's better than being with those pirates… getting raped, almost." He sighed and picked up a stick so he could draw random doodles in the dark dirt. "Now if only I had some clothes to protect my dick and rear from certain… issues." Naruto stuck out his tongue and began tapping it against his nose.
A tune suddenly popped into his head, a song that his mother used to sing to him to sleep when they were in England and he had no friends. Sadness welled up in him at the thought of his deceased mother and father, feeling rather lonely. The song that he was thinking of, actually, was about loneliness and his mother would sing it to him because he had no friends back in England and would often feel alone.
His lips lifted into a small smile and he opened them to sing it quietly to himself. "Child of the wilderness, born into emptiness, learn to be lonely; learn to find your way in darkness. Who will be there for you? Comfort and care for you? Learn to be lonely; learn to be your one companion-"
Snap!
Naruto stood up, head whirling around to find the source of where the noise came from. He readied himself in case he needed to run if it was a large animal. He was not expecting, though, for a series of snaps from broken twigs and rustling followed by a quiet voice.
"Please don't stop singing…" the voice begged a little hoarsely like it hadn't been used in a while, making Naruto gasp and jump away from a bush that the voice had come from. "It was rather nice."
"W-w-w-who are you?" the blond asked with a stutter, shaking from where he stood. More rustling could be heard and the upper body of a person poked out from atop of the bushes the stranger was currently hiding in.
Naruto jumped back, but lost his balance and fell on his ass. The man before him appeared to be naked, but Naruto couldn't tell since the lower half and a portion of the man's belly was hidden by the leaves. Black hair flooded over the man's shoulders and back, long bangs framed his pale yet handsome face, the tips of his pointed ears poking out from beneath the blackness, and piercing red eyes stared right into Naruto's blue ones. A few thin braids with a few beads in them were littered around his head, an animal tooth tied to the ends of them. The stranger appeared to be harmless and had a look of remorse on his face for scaring the other.
"Itachi… what's yours? There hasn't been a visitor such as yourself here in years," the man replied, a little louder than before and not as hoarse.
"Naruto… where am I?"
"Floral Island."
It certainly is floral, Naruto thought as he took a look around him. "Floral Island? I don't remember there being such a place." His eyes were wide with awe as he gazed at the interesting looking man even though he felt nervous in the stranger's presence.
The raven haired man chuckled, a happy sound that eased Naruto's worry. "That's because humans aren't supposed to know about this place." Itachi gasped suddenly and covered his mouth with his hands, suddenly looking afraid as he glanced around and became stiff.
"Wha-what do you mean?"
Itachi shook his head and began to disappear into the bushes again, but said, "Don't tell anyone you saw me!" before he left in a flash. Naruto ran into the bushed and tried to follow, but the man was already gone.
Scratching the side of his head in confusion, Naruto stepped back out from the bushes. "Well that was weird." The man was practically naked, could speak English, and looked like he had seen a ghost before he left and disappeared. "But if he's here, there must be others and I hope they're not as… odd as him." However, what did the stranger mean about humans are not supposed to be here? And why did he say to tell no one that they had met? "Great, more questions with no answers." He threw his arms up in frustration before sitting back down on the stump he was sitting on before.
This place was really starting to get on the blond's nerves. The place was overly hot and humid, he had yet to see any creeks, lakes, or rivers, and the ground was none too soft on his feet. And he was naked! How could this day get any worse?
Naruto was suddenly tackled to the ground, something smooth and hard wrapping around his entire body. The blond looked up to come face to face with a red haired, green eyed, pale man, who was hissing and showing his rather large fangs. Naruto's eyes widened in fear and tried to struggle away, but something was squeezing his body tightly every time he tried to move. Looking down, he almost screamed girlishly at seeing his body engulfed in snake skin. Blue eyes followed the snake's body around him and up to the man… legs of a snake, torso like a human.
"Oh… my… god," was the last thing Naruto said before he fainted.
?
"Oh. My. God," Neji hissed underneath his breath as he listened to Kiba and Kakashi go at it again for what seemed like the fifth time today, smacking his forehead in frustration.
"Admit it, ya got us lost!" Kiba yelled from where he sat, nose to nose with his captain and glaring heatedly at the man.
"No I didn't!" Kakashi snapped back. "How could I get us lost when we were already lost to start with?"
"That's exactly what I'm sayin'! We got lost to start with because of ya!" Kiba paused, thinking over what he just said to make sure it made sense before he nodded to himself and continued his glaring match with the silver haired man.
"Wha? What are you talking about? We were attacked by pirates and then we escaped through the fog; how is it my fault that we got lost for trying to save our hides?" Kakashi held down a smirk of victory when the brunette opened his mouth to reply only to snap it shut when he couldn't find anything to argue with that. "When we were captured, no one was watching the wheel and how am I supposed to navigate through a fog?"
The man's right, Kiba admitted, looking away to glare out angrily at the ocean that no longer held the fog. "Whatever… can ya navigate now that we're out of the fog?"
"It's day time and I don't have a compass."
"Ohhh great! This is just fuckin' perfect! Stupid pirates! Stupid ocean! Arg, I'm gonna bite someone in the face! Mother fucker! Mother fucker! Mother fucker!" Kiba kicked the side of the boat, only to hurt his toes. "Ah fuck!"
Neji eyed the bigger brunette with a raised eyebrow, finding it amusing to see the usually calm and level tempered man freak out. Kakashi, however, rolled his eyes and smacked the man across the face, pushing Kiba down onto the seat since he had been standing before. Kiba didn't like that very much and punched the man back once their captain had reseated himself. This in turn became a full out brawl, causing the boat to tip to the sides dangerously, making Neji cry out for the others to stop.
When the fighting men finally fell over the side of the rowboat, however, Neji stopped and watched the men try to attack each other in the water, but they were having a lot of difficulty from the resistance of the water and the added weight to their bodies. The long haired man sighed and dropped his head into his hands, his elbows resting on his knees to keep his head up. He flinched and yelped when the men splashing to the side of him accidentally tossed some water on him, cooling him down considerably fast and making him a little cold from the added wind.
Pissed and sad (because of Naruto and his now wet hair) at the same time, Neji didn't know what to do with himself; so he began searching the boat for something to hit either Kakashi or Kiba. During his search, he caught something from the corner of his eye and turned his head to see what it was. Lilac eyes widened at the sight and dropped the oar that he had picked up earlier and was going to bash against the others' skulls.
"Hey guys look!" he called out to the others that had floated a few feet away, his words falling on deaf ears. "Guys? GUYS! HEY FUCKERS!" He finally screamed at the top of his lungs with his hands cupping around his mouth, finally gathering the fighting men's attentions. "Look over there!" He pointed in front of him and behind the silver haired captain and the stronger brunette, causing the two to look back at what the man on the boat was pointing at.
Their eyes widened upon what they saw and big grins blew up on their faces as they quickly swam back to the boat: land had been spotted. Neji sat back at the stern when the two men climbed in, water dripping off of them and flying everywhere as they began to row their way in the direction of the island. It was close and it didn't take them long to reach a part of the beach that seemed to surround the island and it was beautiful compared to all the other shores they had landed or docked at.
Once the boat hit the sand, Kiba immediately jumped out and began rolling around in the sand, crying out in joy at its warmness, sticking to his wet clothes. Kakashi jumped out as well, but only laid down on his back, enjoying the hot sun against his face and the warm sand against his back. Neji was more graceful in getting out and sat on a washed up log instead of laying down on the ground, but there was a small smile spread across his cheeks.
All their happiness, though, was cut short when all their stomachs growled in hunger and their mouths felt dry from thirst. Like Naruto, they were hesitant about going into the forest, but they didn't want to waste any time catching fish by hand; so they began their journey into the jungle, looking every which way to find some food. It wasn't until something fell out of a tree and hit Kiba on the head quite hard followed by a screech by a monkey that they found something to eat.
The three of them looked up and were relieved to find fruit that seemed edible since moneys were eating it and began to climb up to get some, scaring the monkeys away. The fruit were shaped like bananas, except they were a different color and their texture was different as well, but they tasted delicious and were full of sugary fluids that quenched both their thirst and hunger. They ate until their stomachs felt satisfied and they all sat down at the bottom of the tree with small grins on their faces.
"Hey captain?" Neji piped up suddenly without glancing away from the darkening sky. He continued when Kakashi made a questioning noise. "Where do you think we are? And do you think it's safe here?"
The silver haired male shrugged, not particularly caring at the moment. "Don't know. I haven't seen any familiar constellations, which is weird since the stars are already out and yet the sun is just now going down. And I don't remember ever seeing this island before whenever I cross the Pacific or Atlantic oceans." He chewed on a blade of grass as he thought, looking back up to the sky to search for familiar surroundings. "This is weird; I've never seen this part of the sky before."
"Do you think we might have discovered something?" Kiba asked from the other side of Neji, yawning loudly and stretching, accidentally smacking an arm into the younger brunette's face, earning a smack back.
"Maybe. But I have a feeling that we're not supposed to be here," Kakashi mumbled. "I'm not worried though… I feel content for some reason." He yawned and scratched his belly, confused at why he was becoming so drowsy and so soon. Sure they worked hard for that past few days with a few rests here and there, but they were just fine a few minutes ago. The confusion was replaced with a peace of mind while his eyes struggled to stay open. He couldn't fight it for very long though and his vision became fuzzy.
The last thing the captain saw before darkness took him was the silhouette of a man with his legs replaced with a long snake like tale.
?
"What was the village like daddy?" a small blond that looked to be around four or five asked excitedly, eyes wide and intense while watching an older, taller blond speak and tell a tale that Naruto had yet to hear.
"It was as beautiful as its people!" Minato exclaimed happily from where he sat on the edge of his son's bed. "They didn't have houses like ours; instead they all slept in hollows of huge trees. Each tree could fill a family of twenty and they were connected with long bridges made out of vines. They hardly go out of the village unless they're hunting or going out to make another village, which was rare… the making of new villages, I mean."
"How many villages were there?"
"Mmm, the last time I was there, there were about ten, but they're small compared to the main village in the middle of the island. Their lord lives there in the largest tree on the island and the inside's been carved out into the lord's liking." Minato smirked at his son's face, blue eyes wide, mouth agape, and not a single wrinkle or crease in sight. "I've been there once when I was captured and the creature who runs the island was so handsome and perfect, but I could see the darkness in him just by looking into his eyes. I always wondered how anyone could marry a man like him."
"Was he married, papa?"
"Yes. To a beautiful, male, red coffee snake. He looked weak on the outside, but he had a strong heart and looked out for me. I could tell that Madara truly loved this creature, because every time he laid eyes on his mate, those cold, black eyes would soften a bit." The older blond smiled to himself when he remembered the red snake defended him and easily won the fight. "Nagato was very intelligent and helped out with my and Kushina's escape."
"Were there other nice snake people?" Naruto laid back with his covers up to his chine, eyes blinking tiredly as he yawned.
"A few, but that was because they were curious and got to know me while the others were too scared and hated me. Now, I think it's time for bed." Minato tucked his little boy in with a soft smile while his eyes shined brightly with love.
Naruto did not argue and fell asleep while his father petted his head.
?
He sat up sharply, panting and sweating, looking around to see no one and fell back down with a sigh… only to sit back up and have another look around. Naruto creased his eyebrows together as he took in the new surroundings. He was laying down on a mat made out of straw and a thin sheet made out of the finest hair (from what, Naruto didn't want to know) covered his lower regions. In front of him was a large opening that led outside. The walls around him were all made out of wood and misshaped with a few things hanging from them, such as jewelry, a freshly caught rabbit or two, and a bucket filled with cold water.
The blond's mouth watered at the sight of the small clear pool and he crawled over towards it to have a sip. Before he could even dunk his head in the water, however, something that felt like a whip smacked him in the back of the head.
"You better not drink that if you wish to bathe," a quiet voice said, making Naruto spin around and he froze, mouth falling agape in shock. "Don't look at me like that, it's… creepy."
How could Naruto not look at the... creature like that? The 'man' before him had the torso of a human, but a few inches beneath his navel and down, skin slowly began to change into smooth scales, changing from black to yellow, to red, to yellow, and black again; the color combination repeated itself until blue eyes reached the end of the tail. The human part of the stranger had pale skin, blood red hair, foamy green eyes, and pointed ears much like the raven man from before. He wore nothing, showing that he wasn't very muscular and might have been shorter than Naruto if he had legs.
"You're-you're-"
"A coral snake, if that's what you're wondering," the redhead interrupted, unknowingly make the blond even more frightened at learning that he was poisonous.
"N-n-n-no, that's not actually, but thanks for telling me anyway." Naruto laughed nervously, and scratched his cheek, fright in his eyes; the snake did look familiar though. "I just can't believe you're actually real."
A nonexistent eyebrow lifted in confusion, giving the human his full attention with narrowed eyes, which intern made the blond pale in fear. "What do you mean? It's impossible for someone like you to know about us. We only know about you… humans, because of all the junk that washes up on our beaches."
"So it's true…" Naruto whispered to himself in amazement. "Father's stories were real. Everything he told me really happened." He yelped when the snake suddenly pushed him onto the floor, showing Naruto how strong he really was. Green eyes were glaring down at him curiously and sharp teeth were shown.
"Who are you? Who was your father? How did he know about us?" the redhead shouted quickly, scaring the blond and making him shrink away from the snake. "Tell me or I'll kill you right now!"
"M-m-my father you u-used to tell me s-stories about this place w-when I was a c-child because h-he said h-he's been h-here b-before!" Naruto cried out hurriedly, blue eyes wide and staring at the redhead as if saying 'please don't eat me.'
The creature did not back off though and pressed down harder on Naruto's bound wrists that were held in the redhead's hands. "Who is your father? Tell me before I break your arm!" To prove himself that he was being serious, the snake let go of the blond's left hand before grabbing it again and bending it at an odd angle that would surely break Naruto's arm if the redhead pressed anymore.
Naruto cried out in pain and bit his lip, closing his eyes and turning his head away. Never before had anyone made him submissive like this before since he was rather an excellent fighter. However, the slightest touch from this creature had him quivering in fear and the urge to run away. He kept his mouth shut out of horror and kept his eyes closed so he didn't have to see the terrifying look the creature was giving him. This, however, pissed the snake off and caused more pain for the blond when the redhead bent the arm just a little more, right on the verge of breaking.
"Tell me now!"
Naruto's eyes opened from the immense pain and cried out, tears springing up, but he could not look at the snake. "M-Minato…" the blond finally answered, sighing in relief when he was let go, only to make a choking sound when the tip of the man's tail wrapped around his neck and squeezed.
"You lie," the redhead hissed just like the snake that he is. "You cannot be the son of Minato because then that would make you the son of… Kushina…" He suddenly became quiet as green eyes widened suddenly, dropping the blond, who clutched his neck and coughed. "If you're still alive, than that would mean that they are as well." Eyes lighted up in joy, but one look from Naruto's eyes had him shaking his head in disbelief and sadness. "No… they can't be…"
Naruto looked away, misery welling up inside him at the thought that he might have taken something away from the snake. "Yes, they are. Mother got sick and father… got ran over by a carriage." He swallowed the large ball of saliva that had gathered in his mouth and flinched away from the hated glare he was given, though the gaze also held confusion from the word carriage.
"This is all your fault! If you-"
"I know it is…" Naruto interrupted quietly, sitting up, but kept his gaze down. "If I hadn't been born, none of this would have happened. I'm the one who killed my mother and I'm the one who had my father taken away when all he wanted to do was apologize." His gaze became blurry with tears and he buried his face into his knees, shoulders shaking as he began to cry. "Finally, someone who agrees with me."
If the blond had looked up, he would have seen the guilty look that the redhead was making. The snake was biting his bottom lip as he watched the human cry, wondering what he should do. Hearing the blond actually agree that he was at fault made the snake feel terrible for what he just said and done. This human was in as much pain as he was and was confused on what was happening. The human seemed stress as well, so stressed that he finally snapped and gave into his emotions. The snake couldn't help but feel a little worried as well, even when the blond was sleeping, talking and crying in his sleep. But when the redhead heard that the human had heard about this place, he lost it and became angry.
"Gaara? Is everything alright up there? I thought I heard yelling," a voice from outside called, making the redhead curse and the blond to lift his head up in confusion at the language he had never heard before. Not too long afterwards, a woman's face peaked in from the round opening, gazing in curiously. "Oh dear… Gaara, what is this?"
"Nothing, Ino. Go away," the redhead snapped back.
The woman snorted and climbed the rest of the way in fearlessly, her yellow snake tail following after her. Her hair was blond, but looked dull compared to Naruto's and was long, tied back as a long bang fell over her right eye, which were blue by the way. Her breasts were covered in a purple garment that was held up and tied around her neck and around her sides, but the clothing stopped a few inches below her breasts, showing off her toned stomach. Her scales did not look smooth enough to touch, maybe if you petted them backwards, but if you went back up you're sure to hurt yourself.
"How can I go away now that I've seen this?" the female snapped back at the redhead, but her face softened considerably when she gazed down at Naruto. "And look what you've done! You made him cry!" Her snake half curled around the human's body as well as her arms as if to comfort him. Ino was careful with her scales, trying not to hurt him as she held him. "What is your name sweetie?"
"He doesn't speak our language, he speaks that one language that the humans call English, which is weird since his father spoke Japanese," Gaara mumbled, curling up by the door and laying his human half on top of his snake half. He didn't need to see that Ino was surprise by what he just said. "Yes, the human's father was Minato…"
"Oh really? How wonderful that they were able to escape and have their child!" Ino cried and hugged Naruto tighter. "Are they with him?"
Gaara shook his head, a small glint of sadness glistening in his eyes as he turned away. "No, they're gone…"
"Oh…" the yellow snake looked down sadly as she continued to cradle the boy, who had given up on trying to figure what they were saying, in her arms. "You poor baby," she continued, this time in English. "You look so much like your father."
"You know my father?" Naruto asked as he gazed up at the gentle woman, feeling safe in her arms even though he knew she could turn on him in seconds. "And why are you being so kind to me?"
"Yes I know your father and I am being kind to you because that is how I've been taught by my parents. Just because we're different, doesn't mean we have to feel prejudice towards one another." Ino smiled and removed the boy from herself so she could scoot him across the room to the water filled bucket. "Bathe and then rest."
"But how do you know my father?"
She shushed him and urged him to begin cleaning himself. "I'll tell you tomorrow. Just bathe and then go to sleep over there." She pointed over towards the mat where he once was before she left to go talk to Gaara while the blond man was busy.
They stayed quiet for a few moments before the redhead whispered, "You know we're going to have to bring him to Madara tomorrow, right?"
Ino nodded her head with a small look of fear. "I don't want to though. Who knows what the snake might do to the human once he learns that he's Minato's son." She glanced over her shoulder to see Naruto washing the dirt from his backside and in between his cheeks, causing her to blush and look away.
"We have to. If we don't, then Madara will surely have our heads. But I'm sure Nagato will stick up for the human and he might be able to live among us…" A crease formed between Gaara's none eyebrows as his eyes narrowed; he didn't have faith in what he said and he was concerned for the human's life.
"I hope so." Ino sat a hand on the redhead's shoulder, causing him to look up at her. "I have to go home now, you'll watch over him… right?" It was an order, not a suggestion. She gave one last smile and left when Gaara nodded, giving one last warning look as she did so.
"Why do I have to be stuck with him?" the redheaded snake asked himself as he looked back to see the blond man laying himself down on the mat on his side, pulling the sheet up to his chin. "And why did I give him my wall hangings to sleep on?" He sighed as he settled onto his curled up body, closing his eyes and falling asleep before the blond.
Lou-pie: I think I'm going to be done with this story before I finish my I'm Yours one, which is sad. But I'm really starting to like this one a lot. I know you readers are confused about the two snakes being all nice, but there's a reason for that and I will explain later. So review and tell me what you think.
