Chapter 14: "The price for your wish"
Satoshi kept tugging the larger hand in his tiny one as he went on the cobble stone path that led through the trees. It was going to be a surprise for his father and he had carefully planned to make sure the surprise won't be spoiled. He was sure that his father was unsure too, he spared a tiny glance through the corner of his eyes towards the taller figure and giggled to himself. Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes at the antics of his son.
"Satoshi I hope you know where we are going. I have never been here before. Are you sure you have the permission of the owner of the house?" he sighed again at the vigorous head nodding of Satoshi's head.
"Yeah, he said I could bring anyone I wanted to and come at anytime I wanted to too." Satoshi was adamant on his choice of where to eat.
"If you say so, son."
"This is not what you think, Naruto-kun. There is a serious misunderstanding." Naruto raised his eyebrows when Aiko finally replied after seeing the letter. I have to wrap this up quickly before the 'guests' get here.
"Then why don't you explain to me what is so horribly misunderstanding about this letter? From what I see it clearly states what you did to make sure I end up marrying you, and not your sister."
Naruto didn't know what exactly had happened between the two sisters but after looking at the letter he could put two and two together and get the general picture. He had planned to marry into the feudal family only to gain the push to finish what he had started the day he had left konoha. He wasn't going to let anything mess up that plan.
"This letter only says what I did. It doesn't say what made me do that. You can't assume I did something wrong when you don't even know what drove me to make that decision."
Aiko was determined to make this right. She didn't do anything wrong and she wasn't going to take the blame for what devastated their family. The pride of being a feudal lord and his age made father make the wrong decisions that brought tragedy on her family.
Aiko closed her eyes at that memory. The last memory she had of her family before she had left her home in despair.
Naruto sighed when he saw Aiko's expression.
"You don't have to prove anything to me. You can take your time and tell me what happened. But you should finish that yakisoba first." Naruto elaborated at her confused look. "We have two guests coming in a few minutes."
Sasuke felt his relief when he saw the big clan house finally after walking for what seemed like hours. But he couldn't ever recall knowing about a clan house in this part of konoha, or even a clan big enough to house enough people to fill the area that was the compound.
Well I'll find out soon enough whose clan it is and what it is about.
Satoshi let go of the entwined hands and ran to the big wooden door when he finished climbing the stairs up to the house. He knocked thrice, as his father had told him to do, and waited impatiently. He was ready to see him!
Aiko heard the door bell ring when she was finally putting the dishes on the table. After making sure the table and the house was presentable she went to the door. Naruto hadn't said who was coming but it was always like that. And she liked surprises.
The surprise waiting for her when she was opening the door wasn't the one she liked a lot but she was a hostess and she needed to upkeep the Namikaze name. So she hid her discomfort and smiled. At least the child was a beautiful boy, like the one she wish to hopefully have with Naruto one day.
"Welcome Satoshi-kun, Sasuke-san. Come on inside." She left the door open and moved inside into the large living room full of light.
Satoshi gasped out loud after entering the house, and he didn't forget to ask for permission to enter the house this time either. The house was so big! With the big windows that let so much light in. and the smell of the food was making his stomach grumble. Satoshi blushed with embarrassment when Aiko giggled at the rumble.
Sasuke was shocked and angry at Satoshi. The feelings felt ready to burst out from him. The brat had taken him to Naruto's house and with that woman inside the house too. He didn't want to see what kind of life Naruto lived with his fiancée. He would tolerate it this once for his child, his only son.
But slowly he understood why the house wasn't on any map and why didn't anyone know about it. Hokage's quarters are usually taken off any maps and only friends and family knew where the house was at all. After asking for permission he entered the house.
It had all the markings of a high profile member's home, with high end polished furnishes and items that were too expensive for anyone else to buy. The Namikaze clan symbol and the Uzumaki clan symbol were etched onto the wall at the end of the living room and above the family portrait of the Namikaze-Uzumaki family. He turned to face the mistress of the house, he felt bitter even thinking about it, when she addressed them both.
"Naruto will be here soon. He went to get Jiraiya sensei. Let's go to the back shall we?"
Naruto hoped to stall finding Jiraiya as much as possible. He didn't want to go back into that house and see Sasuke there. It made him angry enough to see a single Uchiha, but having two at his house, even when he loved them both. The whole story was so complicated now and he didn't even know what to do anymore. He felt himself wavering at times.
He stopped on the tree he when neared the onsen he felt jiraiya's chakra signal was coming from. He needed a break in his mind. He only felt a vertigo for a second, the familiar and much hated vertigo, before he blacked out.
The agony of dying, you've felt it before haven't you, human?
The pain of feeling your insides rotting and being eaten by animals? Can you feel the maggots crawling all over your arms, your legs, your mouth?
It is the same feeling those hundreds you have killed of your own kind.
"I only killed them because you asked me to."
Ah yes yes, that was the agreement wasn't it. Everything has a price. But you see, the action of this story isn't going fast enough for me, human.
Naruto couldn't see it, but he could imagine that face with the crooked smile etched on a mouth the creature had stolen from a rotting corpse. He had only seen that stolen embalmed face once, but that had been enough. The creature had stolen the face from the man he had feared most in his younger years. The long dark hair and the red eyes of Uchiha Itachi's handsome face made him hate and fear the creature even more.
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
The pain of feeling his body dying didn't deter him anymore. When he first felt it years ago he hadn't been able to stop screaming, and he wasn't even able to stop screaming in the nightmares that followed for weeks. But now, he had seen and done too many unspeakable things that made him doubt even his own humanity.
I have a mission for you; The usual one.
Naruto could sense the mouth widening; maybe the sharp teeth would be showing too.
There is one who escaped me; I want you to teach him a lesson. Make him understand what it means to cheat death.
Naruto didn't shiver when the dead hand grabbed his head. The coldness of that hand, the presence of the creature, or the invasion of images and memories of the man he was supposed to torture to death in two days, these things had already become routine.
Tell Kyuubi that I said hello. He's also one I want to keep for myself one day. But not yet. Not yet. You are too useful for me still, human.
The ever smiling mouth and the choking presence left and Naruto felt the sounds of the forest and a familiar living presence next to him in seconds. Jiraiya was looking at him with the same expression he wore for the first time he had seen him.
"It's not the Kyuubi, sensei." Naruto got up leisurely and brushed off the leaves and dirt from his clothes.
Jiraiya also straightened before he replied with scrutiny, "I guessed as much. You looked peaceful."
Naruto couldn't help the wry smile that spread. "Peaceful huh? Has it really come down to that now?" He didn't elaborate at Jiraiya's confused gaze. "We better get back before Aiko comes down to look for us herself."
Naruto couldn't help but wonder over the last words he had heard from the creature, a long time before he had come to Konoha. "I can give you what you seek. And I mean what you really seek, child."
He ran forward with confidence with Jiraiya trailing next to him and scribbling on the notebook. He couldn't stop thinking about what the creature had said, seeing Jiraiya and Tsunade in konoha had awoken those deep set memories he had almost forgotten about. He didn't have the need to think about his feelings or memories of what he done when there was no human around him.
He looked up when he neared the house and yet his mind was still etched with the memory of his parents' smiles and the deal he had made with creature. The two things in his life that had made him walk this path.
"I can give what you seek. And I mean what you really seek, child. All you have to do is give something very simple to me."
"Give me your soul."