NOTE: right so, I'm sorry that the end of the last chapter was so vague and just to be clear NO, there is no rape involved in the story (personally I don't believe rape is the kind of thing to involve in something as trivial as fanfiction); what actually happens is explained in this chapter. As a general clarification, however, I'm working with the assumption that should Naruto be tired enough (i.e. after a day of training not get enough sleep) and should Kyuubi more or less 'save up' enough power, she would be able to take control of the body for a short amount of time.
"talking"
Kyuubi talking
Thinking/emphasis
"remembrance"
wWw
With her residual built-up power fading her out of control of the body, she gave one last glance at Bako Minai's slumped over form and tried to feel some form of satisfaction from the steady stream of blood trickling down the spear her victim was impaled upon – or even amusement at how his death looked so ironically like one of the Jashinist rituals the boy likely worshipped. Still, Kyuubi found herself feeling only the hollow pang of disappointment. Her container who (as she truly hated to admit,) she'd begun to feel almost fond of, was acting like a worthless speck of mud.
A child.
A fucking child! It was so entirely pathetic it made her want to cry.
Except that she was demon, and demons didn't cry.
She'd wanted to test him, see how he'd cope without her immediate healing to his chakra system after training – and what does he do? Freeze up like an average child!
The realization of Naruto's adolescence truly was bleak.
What kind of idiot would immediately just to the conclusion that raping a T&I victim was necessary for his removal from existence?
What was he, a civilian?
Did he forget about his growing myriad of ninja techniques? Was his mind so broken by mere hatred that he'd let such essential things slip his mind?
Pathetic. Utterly Pathetic.
Sure, his genjutsu skills weren't that great (despite it being her forte) and he probably couldn't have dispatched such an effective aphrodisiac-like illusion such that the young Jashinist would literally pleasure himself out of immortality, and she'd even give him the benefit of the doubt on ever being able to use such artifice in the formerly given situation as it would've required a rather coarse yet vivid imaginative ability for which his stout heterosexuality definitely would've caused some problems.
But that didn't mean she had to forgive her deplorable little jailer for forgetting about his seals? Really! The one thing he can do with such ease the Sage of Six Paths would've been green with envy and he forgets at the first slightly scandalous suggestion?
Pathetic, she thinks again, and her frown deepens (a somewhat odd expression on the usually outwardly jubilant body) as a modicum of worry seemed to cross the outskirts of her consciousness. It was strange to feel such a sympathetic emotion – in fact; it had been so long since the burden had formerly graced her knowledge that she'd had to take a moment to properly categorize the sensation.
For years, her life had been a consistent cycle of selfish desire and disappointment that feeling something on the behalf of another had such an inadequate impression, as if a flaw had suddenly asserted itself upon her unblemished modality.
With a snarl, the frown morphed into a feral grimace.
The Kyuubi no Kitsune was not flawed.
Not now, not ever.
With a nod to the torture department heads, she Shunshin'd back to the apartment and let the body collapse on her container's bed, internally brooding to herself.
By Kami, she was sure Shukaku didn't have these kinds of problems with his container.
It really wasn't fair.
wWw
Naruto felt like an idiot.
Like the idiot so many seemed to think he just had to be.
Even worse, Naruto felt like one of those (now dead) cannon fodder Uchiha who realized how useless they were without their Sharingan.
Only his 'Sharingan' was a demon that he had allowed to completely make a fool of him that night. Granted, no one else would know how pitiable he had been but that was truly a minor point.
She knew, and that was all that mattered.
He was hopeless, he noted, without her constant assistance, and it killed him.
Furthermore, in Kyuubi's momentary absence he found himself looking back to his ambition, to leave Konohagakure, to get the fuck out of Fire Country as soon as possible and at least attempt to make a relatively stable life for himself where ever he may end up.
But how could he do that if he was so weak?
He couldn't, he was trapped – and he'd always be trapped: today, tomorrow, in ten years, in fifty.
There was nothing for him to work toward.
He was both unloved and unfulfilled.
With an odd sense of determination he ran (despite his mounting fatigue) to sit upon his birth father's head; his fingers twitching compulsively as the buildings blurred by. Upon arrival the trench knife was ready before he was, trembling faintly whilst facing his stomach – as his eyes tentatively focused on the trembling digits, he couldn't say his thoughts were his own, as they'd opted out of his reach in their own sense of autonomy.
If... if… If… if… what if it's all taken out? The seal is impenetrable yes, yes but the skin surrounding it is not? would it still hold if carved out…? The skin surrounding is-
The knife pokes his skin and he smiles at the warm dribble of crimson,
It's n-not, never! not? never – ever? maybe next week? NO! not for a long long long long timeframe of certainty… or per-happenstance uncertainty? was he certain? was he… was I? is there an I or He? or-
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see his impending literal perforation; he closed his eyes before opening before closing once more. He bit his lip, what kind of escape isn't witnessed? If an escape commences and no one is around to see it – did it happen at all?
He opened his eyes, ready for the best of the worst – until they caught sight of a new disturbance and widened.
The hand, which had been creeping closer to the tender flesh surrounding the Shiki Fuuin was suddenly halted by another, visibly stronger one that squeezed at the wrist until the knife clattered to the ground; Naruto's cerulean orbs
But…?
Looking up, Naruto paled as he took the in the entirely of the figure's appearance. The cascading darkness of the night sky did little to illustrate distinguishing features beyond the hardened vermillion gaze that he knew could never belong to Sasuke.
"Ita-" chi? His voice died en route, catching itself in his throat.
The penetrating regard narrowed and Naruto found himself soberly surprised at how little he felt in the 'fear and terror' department – though, he could have contributed his knowledge of the Uchiha massacre's true beginnings to that effect; the Uchiha still maintained a healthily intimidating presence.
Briefly, he wondered if Itachi was here to finish the job for him – to let him escape once and for all.
"the if, how, and most importantly, why do not matter" Itachi said, in a perfectly practiced monotone that lulled the blonde to sleep.
wWw
Waking up in the apartment the next morning, Naruto experienced a fleeting moment of pure joy for simply existing in the condition of life.
Unfortunately, any happiness sharply vanished with the realization that his wrist was still bruised.
Fortunately, the first test of the Chunin exam was quite lame, he thought, so lame that even in the young container's despondent state, he still found the energy within himself to note just how uninspiringly lacking the initial test had been.
He genuinely hoped the portion hosted by the forest of death set to begin the next day would be more interesting.
Until then he had more pressing matters to attend to.
wWw
At his usual training ground, Naruto was trying really hard not to panic, not to fall into the same place he was the night before but he needed to test and see for himself whether or not his hunch was right; so with a swig from his beloved sake flask, the young container ran a kunai down the side of his palm, watching without the slightest flinch as the cardinal river ran between his fingertips before dripping slowly to the ground.
He waited.
Nothing.
With a couple of deep breaths, Naruto tried fruitlessly to calm himself but it was proving difficult with Kyuubi's chakra not healing him as a large portion of his body's sustainability relied on that effect.
…Kyuu-chan? He pried quietly into the void of their mindscape – he knew she was there, she couldn't have completely left; therefore making it merely a matter of forgiveness of his indiscretions, his sins.
…
Please? Kyuu-chan I can't do this on my own,
…
If I freeze up like I did at the department I'll undoubtedly be killed!
…
I need you-
Just shut up already you imbecile!
…
Because, and only because I am a kind demon I will assist you once more in training and combat – however, should you fail to meet my expectations again, the perilous agony you will face shall be neither swift, nor temperate. Understood?
Yes.
He could practically feel her smirk, that's very good. Now: summon as much fire as you can and catapult it toward those trees; your current flame manipulation control is acceptable but the speed behind it is pathetic. God knows I won't even mention the disaster that is still your wind manipulation.
Ah-
Any forming blisters will be healed overnight. Now move.
In the following hours, the trees wouldn't know what hit them.
wWw
When he woke the next morning, Naruto was drenched in sweat and clutching desperately to his trench knife (that was usually kept hidden under his pillow at night).
As always, he was alone, even within his mind – as his dreams had no effect on the demon within, allowing her to sleep peacefully in her little corner despite any events her host may have been experiencing.
Considering how much panic the young jinchuuriki was currently feeling, he knew there was no way for him to get back to sleep until the next night. So after making himself a cup of coffee and taking a few deep breaths, he decided to analyze his newest dream, to try and decipher the fragments of clairvoyance altogether.
Despite what Kyuubi may have said, Naruto firmly believed that he could find some use for the visions, it may not be my exact future, he thought, but the people around me don't seem to be any different.
With that in mind he picked out the first unrecognizable yet repetitive thing: red clouded cloaks.
Was it some sort of organization? He'd seen three people in the damn things and all of them seemed to have some sort of common goal: killing him, that is.
From there he considered how a certain level of resentment seemed to be another relating factor between the visions his dreams had been presenting him with. Whatever manner of life path this visage of himself had taken, he seemed to harbor a practically sentimental level of ire toward a great many individuals that had clearly always been poorly repressed; granted, with the amount of people his alternate had trying to kill him, anger seemed more or less justified.
He, the observing Naruto that is, vowed to not follow his other's lead; he didn't want to bother with anger, it was pointless in the grand scheme of his life.
He supposed the fact that he didn't recognize who the majority of the people in his dreams were could've been another relating factor.
Though once his heart rate had calmed, he found the most recent fragment left more confusion than others, why?
Itachi Uchiha.
Boy oh boy did his alternate despise the Uchiha viciously – there was almost a reddened tint over his view.
But why?
"the if, how, and most importantly, why do not matter"
The whispered reminder of Itachi's warning tickled the back of his mind, calling for attention.
"the if, how, and most importantly, why do not matter"
"the if, how, and most importantly, why do not matter"
"the if, how, and most importantly, why do not matter"
He tried to picture the elder Uchiha repeating the lines just as he was in his usual monotone and found it difficult before – very briefly, he wondered if Itachi was, in actuality, dead inside.
Moments later he dropped the idea, as it seemed a little too far fetched, so he spent the remainder of the morning to recuperation for the upcoming exam.
Heh,
Naruto's going to be having some stability issues for a little bit.
If the occasional skimming over of canon plot bothers anyone – sorry, but the fic is mainly supposed to be about Naruto's mental happenings.
However, the next chapter will be bringing the big plot guns; and (because they'll have to appear within the next few chapters) I'm looking for suggestions for Naruto's future companions (Itachi will be one of them) I need two more.
Finally, for additional clarification: THERE WILL BE NO YAOI AND NO HAREM-LIKE stuff.
Feedback is nice :]