A.N.- Welcome back! We reached 300 reviews for the last chapter! Special shout out to reader eau vive for being the 300th reviewer :D. Seriously guys, thanks a lot. It means a lot to me. Here is another long chapter for your enjoyment.
As usual, beta'd by TreeStar (Oh and for the guest that got really defensive on my behalf thinking my beta had no right telling me what to do with the last chapter; thanks for your concern, but it's alright! Not only do I respect my beta for being an amazing writer, I've been best friends with her for 16 years and she just pushed me to expand on a scene that I would have just mentioned otherwise, that being the visit to court. It still stuck to the overall story, otherwise I wouldn't have let it affect my decision to stray from my outline. I am, however, amazed about the amount of mixed reviews. Some people said it was super depressing, while others said it was not depressing at all...I don't know man...)
Anywho, R&R and Enjoy!
That Time I Went Down Fighting
21. State of Mind
Naruto was depressed. Thoroughly and utterly depressed.
The last few weeks had been hell, not just physically, but emotionally resulting in Naruto's mind just shutting down.
He didn't feel like eating, though his Master forced him to with a strong command that he couldn't disobey. He didn't feel like talking, not that he was allowed to anyways other than answering Master. He felt sluggish, leaning his side against the wall as he knelt close to Master's desk only to move when commanded. He didn't want to think because it made his heart hurt too much, so instead he allowed his mind to go blank as he stared at nothing in particular for hours at a time while Master worked quietly at his desk. He followed his Master's every command without thought and was thankfully able to avoid further punishment.
All Naruto wanted to do was sleep, but he knew that that wouldn't come until Master found someone to take to his bed. But even then, sleep was hard to come by because his thoughts would finally force their way to the surface again and leave him close to tears as he fought off the cold winds that threatened to push past his blanket's thick barriers.
Sasuke grit his teeth when his phone vibrated again. He glanced at the small device lying face down on his desk then returned his attention back to the document he was holding.
He scowled. He had no idea what the literature was about and he had been staring at it for the past ten minutes trying to get past the first paragraph. He just couldn't concentrate.
Taking off his reading glasses, Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. He could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. What else was new?
His phone vibrated again causing Sasuke to jump. He watched as it danced across the desk as he received yet another text message.
Sighing, Sasuke grabbed the small device and checked the screen to see who was so damn eager to get a hold of him. He knew who was texting him. There was a reason why he had been avoiding looking at his phone for the past few days, but it looked like he had no choice now.
The edges of his fingers grew white as he griped the phone too tightly in his slightly shaking hand.
Shikamaru (Messages 10)
Sasuke's jaw tightened as he selected the most recent message, ignoring the rest.
-Dammit Uchiha! Where are you? We haven't seen you guys since Naruto's birthday. It's been a month! Why aren't you answering me?!-
Sasuke licked his dry lips as he read the words of Temari's angry text. He could practically hear the cat hissing as her blond ears laid flat in warning. His eyes darted to Naruto, who was sitting lifelessly against the wall with blank eyes, then back to his phone. Sasuke's heartbeat picked up until it felt like it was hammering painfully in his chest. He felt sweat begin to break out on his forehead and his hands become clammy.
He swallowed past the thick lump in his throat and ran his fingers along the screen of his phone in a quick reply.
-Been really busy.-
He pressed 'send'. His responce was lacking in any important information or needless apologies. Sasuke's texts were always short and to the point, so there was no point in changing that now.
He stared at the note displaying the other nine missed messages from his friends and contemplated checking them. Temari and Shikamaru had been texting him throughout the last few weeks wondering when he and Naruto would be coming over again and Sasuke had been brushing them off with the excuse of being extra busy with work, even on the weekends.
With every excuse, Sasuke's anxiety grew. He couldn't let his best friends know what he had done. That he had gone too far and got stuck in a stupid game of master and pet with Naruto, and now Naruto might actually be broken. At first Sasuke had been relieved at Naruto's silence because that meant he wouldn't be forced to use the collar, seeing the physical pain Naruto endured each and every time hurt Sasuke more than he could imagine. However, Sasuke had seen the way Naruto's whole being slowly dimmed over the last week until his eyes looked as empty as all the other pets' in the castle. And Sasuke hadn't done anything to stop it. He didn't know what to do or how to stop himself from treating Naruto the way he was. What was he supposed to say? There was no going back at this point. It was too late. Sasuke couldn't let his only true friends know that he had turned into his father.
That thought made Sasuke's stomach clench painfully. Bile rose in his throat and Sasuke was forced to swallow it down just as another text message vibrated the phone still clenched in his sweaty hand.
-THAT'S IT! I'm waking up Shika and we're coming over!-
Sasuke's breath hitched and his eyes widened in panic. His fingers texted a quick reply -No- before pressing 'send'.
He brushed a hand over his face and realized he was panting. Sasuke resisted the urge to look back over at Naruto. As it was, he could see the blond out of his peripheral vision and he could tell the Naruto took no notice of his jerky movements.
Sasuke took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself and focus his mind. He knew his response to the cat wouldn't be enough to keep her away. He began typing again, ignoring the smudge marks his sweaty fingers left behind on his screen.
-In a meeting right now. N is with me. I'll call you later.-
He sent off the message and waited for a reply. Sasuke frowned when he noticed how much his hand holding the phone was shaking and he brought up his other hand to try to steady it. The muscles of Sasuke's forearms flexed and strained as they fought to control his hands that clenched tightly around the small device.
When his cell phone vibrated again, Sasuke was ready.
-Alright. We'll talk tonight. Don't forget.-
Sasuke released a shaky sigh and placed the phone on his desk. He stared at it for a few moments waiting for it to vibrate again announcing that Temari had changed her mind and would be dragging Shikamaru over right now. When the black device remained still Sasuke moved his still shaking hands to rest in his lap.
His right hand gripped the fabric of his pants near his knee, twisting it until his hand started to turn red and his leg ached where the material pinched his skin. His left hand remained flat against his long hard thigh. Sasuke's dark eyes drifted down to his left thumb as it started to rub back and forth against the slightly rough material of his jeans.
He focused on the feeling of the fabric as it brushed against the pad of his thumb; its small bumps that seemed course at first, but only grew softer the more he rubbed it. Rubbing fabric was a strange habit Sasuke had developed over the years to help him calm down from his anxiety attacks since he was usually not in a place where he could get up and pace and he always wore clothing that he could manipulate. It gave his mind something to focus on and forced his breathing to follow the gentle pace his thumb set.
Sasuke watched his thumb move along his blue jeans for the next half hour or so until he was calm enough to return to his work.
Sasuke looked up from his lunch at the sudden knocking on his door. He considered telling Naruto to answer the door, but the blond had just begun picking at his own meal and Sasuke didn't want him to get distracted. Sasuke hadn't missed the way Naruto's appetite had waned over the past few days as the blond would just poke at his food looking bored until Sasuke told him to eat. It was just another thing to worry about.
"Enter," Sasuke finally called, not feeling like getting up either even if it was his father who had come to call.
Tsunade quietly moved into the room before shutting the door behind her. Her hazel eyes scanned the bright bedroom for a moment taking in its occupants. Naruto was sitting on his cot slowly eating food off of a trolley. He didn't look away from his plate to acknowledge her presence. Sasuke was sitting at his desk also eating, but also obviously working as usual.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his unexpected guest. "What do you want hag?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Tsk, brat. As charming as ever I see." She made her way over to Sasuke's desk, setting her medical bag next to his plate of food with a 'thump'.
Sasuke eyed the bag, but remained silent as he waited for an explanation.
"You missed your weekly visit yesterday," Tsunade informed the raven.
Sasuke shrugged, "I forgot." He took another bite of his sandwich and ignored the doctor's heavy stare.
"You 'forgot'…" Tsunade questioned in disbelief. "How could you just forget? You've been getting tested every week for, what, the last three years? And you suddenly just 'forget'?"
Sasuke swallowed and shrugged again, "So I was busy then. What do you want from me?"
Tsunade 'tsk'ed' again, "For you to stop sleeping around for starters; that would make my job easier." The fierceness of the glare the doctor received for that answer surprised her. Even though Tsunade was now technically a 'pet' of the castle, she had still known both Itachi and Sasuke since birth and habits were hard to break. Luckily, both baby Uchihas felt the same and couldn't bring themselves to treat her cruelly like their father had once the collar was slapped around her neck. However, she couldn't remember Sasuke ever looking as angry at her as he did as that particular moment.
"That's none of your business," Sasuke said through clenched teeth. He pulled up the sleeve of his right arm so he could continue using his left to eat. "Just draw the blood," he commanded.
Tsunade pursed her lips and complied. She opened her bag and pulled out a few vials as well as the other items used to draw blood. She tied a tourniquet around Sasuke's bicep and swabbed the inside of his elbow before inserting a needle into his pale skin.
Sasuke watched in mild interest as his blood began to move through the thin tube into the vial.
"You've been having trouble sleeping again, haven't you?" It was more a statement than a question, but Tsunade waited for conformation anyway. All she got in response was a grunt from the moody teen. Tsunade sighed, looking at the bags under Sasuke's eyes, as well as the slightly pasty complexion of his already too pale skin. "I can give you something to help you sleep if you want," she finally said.
Sasuke pulled his eyes away from his slow moving blood and blinked a few times to focus his attention on the doctor. "No, it's fine. You know I prefer to avoid putting drugs in my system as much as possible. I just have to move around more during the day." He looked at his desk with a frown.
Tsunade switched out the full vial for a new one before following Sasuke's gaze. "Can't you find someone else to give some of this work to? Like some lower peon who's just itching to get in the Uchiha's good graces?"
Sasuke scoffed, "He'd know if I wasn't the one who did the work."
A soft clattering noise drew Sasuke's attention across the room where Naruto had dropped one of chopsticks on the ground. He watched as the blond blankly stared at the stick for a moment before bending to pick it up to resume eating.
A tight ball formed in Sasuke's chest and he forced himself to look away from Naruto. He shook his head to clear it. "I just need to focus more on my work," he stated with a look of determination.
Tsunade hadn't missed the small lapse in the young Uchiha's focus, but she chose not to comment on it. There was obviously something going on between the two males, but for the life of her she had no idea what it could be. "You're going to get sick again. You know how all this stress gets to you," she scolded as she switched out another vial.
Thankful for the distraction, Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Are you calling me weak?"
A hint of a smile came to Tsunade's lips. This was the Sasuke she knew. Her eyes narrowed, "You bet your ass I am, brat."
"Hag." The twitch at the corner of Sasuke's lip was not missed by the doctor.
"Who are you calling a hag?!" Tsunade all but roared in mock anger. "I've slapped your ass before; don't think I won't do it again."
Sasuke scoffed, "The day I was born hardly counts as you having any advantage over me."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "I know where you sleep."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "And I know where you sleep."
Tsunade smirked, "Is that an invitation? You know, it has been getting quite cold at night lately."
Sasuke's eyes widened in horror, "Ew, no! Get out of here!"
Tsunade laughed as she pulled the needle from Sasuke's arm and packed up her bag. She quickly taped a cotton ball to the puncture wound on Sasuke's arm before she turned to go.
"Try to get some sleep," the doctor ordered as she moved through the doorway.
Sasuke acknowledged her comment with a wave of his hand as he went back to his meal. "Crazy old bat," he mumbled with a small smile just as the door closed. He knew there was a reason why he cared for the old broad.
He took a deep breath, feeling calm enough to call Shika and Temari, and lie out his ass about why he had been avoiding them.
Later that night Sasuke and Naruto entered the family dining room to find Fugaku and Itachi waiting for them.
"It's about time," Fugaku eyed his youngest son as Sasuke took his seat next to him.
Sasuke suppressed a sigh, but remained silent.
Itachi raised an eyebrow. They had only just sat down; their father really needed to give Sasuke a break. "How was your day, Otouto?" he asked as he watched Naruto move to stand against the far wall behind Sasuke before returning his gaze back to his brother.
Sasuke grunted feeling too exhausted both mentally and physically to elaborate.
"Answer your brother properly, boy. You're an Uchiha, not a Neanderthal," Fugaku ordered with a glare.
Sasuke grit his teeth, "It was fine. I was able to get a fair amount of work done."
Itachi nodded, "That's good. Court was tedious, but luckily there were no emergencies… well except for Taida-san almost choking on a chicken bone during lunch." He smirked when Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise.
"The fat cow was trying to suck the marrow out of the bone or something. If she learned how to chew her food instead of inhale it maybe she wouldn't look like such a tub of lard," Fugaku grumbled in annoyance.
Neither son chose to argue with their father on that point.
Just then the door to the kitchen opened and the pets carrying trays of food quietly entered. As they approached the table, Fugaku turned his attention to the blond Jinchūriki who was silently leaning against the wall staring blankly at nothing. The Regent had been slowly increasing the new pet's duties to see if he had been broken yet, but so far the blond had only showed defiance at his requests. However, over the past few weeks the beast seemed less spirited.
"Wait," Fugaku held up his hand to stop a servant from dishing his meal, "Sasuke's beast will be the one serving us tonight."
All the Jinchūriki holding the serving platters froze in their steps and looked at Fugaku in confusion before looking at Naruto (who was still zoning out) and then exchanged nervous glances with each other. Fugaku sighed in annoyance and gestured for the pets to place the food on the table, which they did before hurriedly bowing and rushing from the room.
The room was silent for a moment as no one moved.
Itachi watched as Sasuke glared daggers at their father while Fugaku raised an eyebrow at him in silent challenge.
Sasuke swallowed his anger with difficulty. He didn't want his father to know just how much anything that had to do with Naruto serving anyone really upset him. He couldn't have the older man using that to his advantage. Without looking away from Fugaku, Susuke called out in a commanding tone, "Dobe, serve us."
"Yes Master," Naruto pushed himself away from the wall to follow his Master's orders.
Itachi noticed that Naruto's blue eyes remained distant even as he moved towards the table, like he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going or even knew where he was. He watched as the blond moved around the table collecting the empty plates that had been placed in front of the Uchihas before they had even arrived. Naruto then moved to Sasuke's left and set the plates on the table to begin filling them with food.
It took a few minutes before Naruto was done dishing up the food, but once he was done, he set Sasuke's plate in front of him first (much to Fugaku's annoyance) and then moved around the table to serve the other two Uchihas.
While Naruto moved back around the table to fill the glasses with water, Itachi observed the food on his plate. Apparently Naruto was on some sort of autopilot, because he had obviously gone thought each individual dish to plate all the foods Sasuke favored and left all that he disliked back on the platters. Itachi eyed the pile of mushrooms that lay abandoned on the platter of chicken and mushroom stir-fry that Naruto had sifted through.
Normally when they were served dinner, they were given everything and were left to choose what they wanted to eat, but apparently Naruto wasn't giving them the choice. Itachi would have laughed if he wasn't so disgusted by Sasuke's actions at causing Naruto's obviously broken state of mind.
Itachi glanced up at his father who had his lips slightly pursed as he looked down at his own altered meal. He wondered how his father was feeling about this new development. Though really, it was the older man's own fault for forcing the young Jinchūriki on Sasuke in the first place. Not that Itachi would have wanted Naruto under his father's thumb and he had initially been pleased with Sasuke's progress around the blond, but now Itachi wished he had been given custody of Naruto (or better yet, that Naruto had never been captured in the first place).
Itachi moved his gaze away from his father to his brother who had started silently eating. Sasuke ignored everyone around him as he focused on his meal. Itachi's dark eyes caught sight of golden hair at his brother's elbow and he realized that Naruto had moved to kneel beside Sasuke's chair. Itachi's teeth grit in anger. Anger at Sasuke, and his father, and at the blond who had apparently let himself be tamed like some wild beast by his foolish little brother.
Long moments of silence stretched on, the only noise that filled the room was the soft sound of chewing and the clicking of chopsticks.
Fugaku took a sip of his water and wiped his mouth with his napkin before looking down at the blond beast that was on the ground between him and his son. The boy was kneeling with his hands clasped in his lap and his head slightly bowed, but not far enough to obscure the view of his face. The boy's face was blank, void of any emotion which was unusual since he had always worn his emotions so openly, and his eyes stared unseeing at some point somewhere under the table.
Fugaku's eyes moved over the blond's strong shoulders and toned chest that were clothed in a tight black shirt and down to his lean black clad hips. The Regent had noticed that his son had chosen to only dress his pet in the clothing of the castle's other pets during court, otherwise choosing to have the boy wear normal clothing as if he were a normal person. It irked Fugaku at first to see his son's lack of caring where it came to proper protocol between a pet and its master, but he had to admit that the dark clothing looked captivating against the blond's tan skin.
It was also quite pleasing to see so much life gone from the once rebellious Jinchūriki, and the fact that it was obviously hurting his worthless son in the process was an added bonus Fugaku had not foreseen when he had forced said Jinchūriki on the faggot. The blond beast had been a tough nut to crack, but apparently he had made the right choice to have Sasuke train him. Though it appeared the Jinchūriki was trained to meet only the specific needs of his master (which is how it should be in a personal pet, so that was ok for now), it still showed that he could be trained and that was good enough. After all, all a good pet needed to do was follow its master's commands without a second thought.
Without making himself too obvious, Itachi observed the other occupants in the room. Naruto was of course just sitting there mostly out of his view, but Sasuke looked like he was about to have an aneurysm as their father continued to just stare at Naruto.
It was obvious that Sasuke was trying to look like he didn't care about what went on around him, he kept his head bowed over his plate and continuously stuffed his mouth with food, but Itachi noticed the way his hand was gripped just a little too tight on his chopsticks and how his shoulders were hunched up around his ears. He was glaring at his food like it had greatly offended him in some way and a troubling crease had formed between his eyebrows.
It appeared that Sasuke was having trouble controlling the torrent of emotions surging through him just from the fact that their father had his eyes on Naruto. Itachi sighed, 'Foolish Otouto. Stop being so stubborn and do something.' The sound of his father's voice brought Itachi's attention away from Sasuke and back to Fugaku.
"More rice and some tea," Fugaku ordered as he looked down at the still blond.
Fugaku smirked, while his son's stiffened in horrified surprise, when Naruto immediately rolled to his feet with a mumbled reply of "Yes Master" before he moved to do Fugaku's bidding.
Sasuke was extremely pissed off that evening when they returned to his bedroom. He didn't even bother to shower before he stormed from the room to find a bed partner for the night. In his distressed state, Sasuke ended up consuming much more alcohol that night than he had in a while.
Two nights later, Naruto found himself lying in his usual spot in the yard with his blanket wrapped tightly around him.
His eyes shot open as a cramp suddenly formed in the calf of his right leg causing him to hiss in pain. He shifted until he was sitting up and flexed his foot to try to alleviate some of the pain. Thankfully his muscle relaxed, but his leg was left aching. Naruto frowned down at his blanket covered appendage in annoyance. He had been so close to falling asleep…
But of course now that he was awake, his stupid brain had to start thinking all over again. He growled as he began stretching his sore leg, wondering why he hadn't done so before bed since his muscles were always stiff after sitting stationary for so long.
Naruto's soul felt tired. He felt like he was constantly on the verge of crying, but not by feeling the telltale prickle of tears in his eyes, but the feeling of a heavy weight being pressed on his chest. He felt so overwhelmed by all the emotions he had been forced to endure since his capture, and yet he felt empty.
Naruto knew the reason for his emotional state; he just didn't want to accept it. He didn't want to think about it, because it would only make everything much more painful than it already was.
Depressed blue eyes drifted across the dark yard until they landed on the stream of light that was cascading from the bedroom through the gap in the curtains. As usual, shadows from within the room moved across the grass in a passionate dance. Luckily, the figures were not as distinguishable as they were on other nights due to the width of the gap, but that didn't stop Naruto's chest from aching or his throat from constricting painfully.
"I can't do this anymore," Naruto said in a hollow voice as he watched the shadows play across the lawn.
He pushed himself to his feet, dropping his blanket to the cold grass without care, and moved towards the sliding door. Holding onto his determination, Naruto forced all his other emotions down like he had done on a daily basis and silently slid the glass door open and stepped into the room.
Heat washed over him from the large fire burning on the right side of the room, its warm contrast a polar opposite against the night's cold wind causing goosebumps to instantly form on Naruto's skin. Naruto barely heard the sounds of the heavy panting from the bed to his left as he closed the door behind him. He ignored the couple on the bed as he allowed his feet to carry him silently across the room to the door that he barely saw in his blind haze. He also didn't notice the dark gaze that followed his movements out the door.
Naruto gently closed the bedroom door behind him with a soft click. He closed his eyes and leaned against the door, releasing a shaky sigh as realization of what he had just done hit him. He shook his head, 'I've been sitting idle for too long. I've been stupid and should have made a move sooner.'
Naruto hated feeling so weak. He snorted in bitter amusement at his own weakness and looked up at the hallway's ceiling. 'What the hell have I been doing?' he wondered as he pushed himself away from the door and made his way down the hall in a random direction.
Naruto knew he had given up. Hell, he could have given up well before the kiss had happened. It had been weeks before Sasuke had gotten sick since Naruto had tried any sort of escape.
He had tried while Sasuke was away at court for the day. It had been a good plan; he figured that since he couldn't physically touch the remote to his collar than he would just have to carry it out some other way. Sasuke had left the remote on his desk as usual and Naruto decided that he would just push the little device off the desk with a pen into the small trash can that was always under said desk. The plan was set, everything was lined up. However, when Naruto touched the pen to the remote pain shot through him. He had recoiled in shock at first, but then decided to push through the pain and finally succeeded in toppling the remote into the trash bin. But once again, when he went to pick up the bin his system was filled with pain. Apparently, whoever had invented the collars had thought that its wearer would try something similar and had made it so the remote couldn't be carried by the 'pet' even if it was covered by something. That had been the last time Naruto had tried to escape.
Naruto frowned. In fact, the last time he had even thought about escaping was when he had been hunting with Neji. Had he really been so preoccupied with Sasuke that he forgot that he didn't belong with him? Well that answer was simple. Yes. He had let Sasuke completely take over his world. With all the times he had masturbated while thinking of the youngest Uchiha, not to mention the fact that he wasn't able to think of anything but Sasuke, even though the raven was always with him, it really wasn't surprising that Naruto had become preoccupied from his original goal of getting home. It was just extremely disappointing.
Naruto found himself at an intersection and he took a moment to decide which direction to turn before deciding to go right and continuing his journey down the empty hallway.
It kind of surprised him that the corridor was empty. He had sort of expected there to be guards patrolling around. Naruto shrugged, assuming that the guards were probably at each exit or something. He didn't really care; he was just glad that there was no one around to harass him about wandering the halls in his pajamas and socks in the middle of the night.
Thought truth be told, Naruto had no idea where the hell he was going. He paused in his steps and scratched his cheek as he thought about how he should proceed.
He needed to find Itachi. Naruto had been vaguely aware of the older Uchiha making several attempts at trying to get alone time with him over the past week, but Naruto hadn't really been paying attention and Sasuke had obviously refused Itachi's requests. Naruto knew that Itachi had something important to tell him. The only problem was, he had no idea where Itachi was.
The best course of action would be to find someone, preferably another Jinchūriki, and ask them where he could find Itachi's room. He could give them some lame ass excuse like Sasuke had sent him to deliver a message, but he doubted they would even bother asking him anyways. He frowned at the knowledge that his lying skills had improved so much over the course of his capture. It was deplorable.
Shaking his head to push the thought of his own morality away for the moment, Naruto continued on his way in search of another pet.
Naruto looked both ways to check to make sure that the hallway was still empty. It was. 'Good,' he thought as he rolled his shoulders.
Naruto felt pretty good. His plan had succeeded. At least he assumed it had. He was standing in front of what he hoped was Itachi's bedroom door after having followed the instruction that he had gotten from the white tiger. He just hoped that he hadn't got the directions wrong and had ended up in front of Fugaku's door instead. That wouldn't go over too well.
Either way, Naruto's long trek though the castle had somewhat revitalized him. Sure the castle's hallways were no nature hike, but moving through them unsupervised still allowed him the freedom that he hadn't been allowed to have in over two and a half months. The overshadowing depression had lessened enough to allow the tightness in his chest to loosen to a bearable pressure, leaving him feeling a little bit more like himself, and less like the hollow shell that he had become over the past few weeks.
Now that he had separated himself from his burden, he was able to put the painful thought that he was actually planning on leaving Sasuke into the far reaches of his mind and focus on his goals for the immediate future. Those being: Itachi, King Obito, and hopefully through one or both of them getting the hell out of the castle and back to his family where he could help with the downfall of the evil Regent Uchiha Fugaku.
Straightening his back, Naruto knocked on the door and waited for an answer that would hopefully lead to some answers and his freedom. The door swung open after a minute and Naruto took a step back in surprise as he looked up at the man who had answered the door.
It was extremely rare that Naruto found himself in the presence of a Jinchūriki that scared him, but the man who was standing in the doorway looking down at him from well over a foot and a half's advantage scared the crap out of him.
Naruto stared wide-eyed into the darkest black eyes that he had ever seen. It wasn't enough to say that the man's eyes looked dead. No, these eyes looked like they were black holes that would suck in the soul of any unfortunate person who was unlucky enough to gaze into them and get dragged off into the deepest reaches of hell. They were eyes that would make a full grown man piss himself before bursting into tears and running off to hug his mommy. Naruto suppressed a squeak, desperately wanting to look away from those eyes but was unable to.
The man smiled, allowing Naruto to see rows of razor sharp teeth that had been hidden behind his blue lips, "Hey there, fox face."
Naruto gulped, taken aback at how accurate the man was at the nickname he had chosen for him. He wondered if this man really knew who, or better yet what he was. Had the man already stolen his soul?! He pushed that ridiculous idea away to respond to the intimidating man. "H-hey, shark man," he gave a weak smile.
The pale blue man snorted in amusement and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his muscular arms across his chest. "You must be Naruto," he stated as he eyed the wide-eyed blond.
Naruto opened and closed his mouth a few times once again surprised by the shark Jinchūriki's words. Not only that, but the man's whole demeanor had just changed. He had gone from 'I'm going to suck out your soul and rip off your flesh while I laugh' to super casual in a matter of seconds. It was freaking weird.
Naruto let himself relax and cursed himself for reacting so stupidly towards the man. He had never really had a reason to feel intimidated by another Jinchūriki, mainly because of his own chakra being so strong, but he shouldn't let someone's looks force him to judge them a certain way.
"Yeah," he finally answered with more confidence. "What's your name?"
"Kisame," the shark smiled again. "So, what brings you here Naruto?"
"Um," Naruto furrowed his eyebrows for a second thinking that his intentions would be obvious since he was knocking on Itachi's door. "Is Itachi here?"
Kisame raised an eyebrow and his gaze glanced down the long hallway before returning to Naruto.
"This is his room, right?" Naruto hastened to ask.
Kisame shrugged, "Yeah. Well, technically it's our room," he pointed to the collar that was around his neck, "but Itachi's not here right now."
Naruto stared at the collar that was around Kisame's neck for a moment before returning his gaze back to the depthless back orbs that were the shark's eyes. "You're Itachi's 'pet'?" he asked in disbelief.
Kisame smirked, "What, my good looks give it away? Yeah. Do you really think Fugak-ass would let any of his 'pets' have these?" He opened his mouth wide to once again reveal his deadly teeth. Two rows of them. Naruto shivered. "Anyways," Kisame continued, "'Tachi and I have been roommates for a few years, but don't tell his old man that's all we are." He winked at the shorter male.
Naruto shook his head in disbelief. It was amazing that Fugaku would allow a Jinchūriki as dangerous as Kisame to go practically unchecked inside the castle. That really showed the Regent's favoritism towards his eldest son.
An idea came to Naruto as he took in the shark's words. His lips pulled down in a slight frown as he looked at the other man's larger muscles that here partially obscured by a tight white tee-shirt. He cocked an eyebrow in question, "You and Itachi aren't…?" He left the question hanging, not wanting to voice what he was thinking.
Kisame's nose crinkled in disgust, "Ew, no. 'Tachi and I may share a room, but that's all we share." He shuddered at the thought of having any sort of physical relationship with his dark haired friend. "We're both straight. Well, I am. He's asexual, or something."
Naruto nodded. He guessed it might be a little weird to have two gay sons in the family. Though, honestly he wasn't really concerned about Itachi's sexual preferences in the first place. There was only one Uchiha son that was always on Naruto's mind and Naruto knew very well by know what gender he preferred to stick his dick in.
Once again feeling the pull of depression creeping into his system, Naruto quickly pushed the thought of the raven haired boy out of his mind.
Naruto rubbed his forehead to focus his thoughts for a moment before looking back at Kisame. "So, Itachi's not here? Do you know when he'll be back?"
Kisame shook his head, "Sorry kid. He's out in town and probably won't be back for hours. I'll tell him you stopped by though."
Feeling dejected, Naruto nodded his head in thanks and turned to leave but stopped when he remembered that he still had no idea where he was going. "Hey," he looked back at the large man, "Do you know where they keep the King?"
Naruto jumped back to hide behind the corner of the hallway that he had just come out of. 'Shit, that's a lot of guards,' Naruto silently grumbled.
Truth be told, he could probably take on the six guards even with the collar limiting the use of his chakra and the hallway restricting his movements. However, those guards had guns and Naruto didn't do guns. He had learned that the last time he had taken a round to his chest and ended up in his current predicament. He wasn't sure he would be so lucky if he had six humans shooting at him instead of just one.
The fox bit his lip and began to silently pace down the hallway that was just around the corner of the six oblivious guards. He needed to come up with a plan to get past those guards, because according to Kisame the King's bedroom was on the other side of the closed door at the end of that hallway. It would explain the extra security in this area of the castle.
While he had passed a few guards on the stairwell in getting to Itachi's room with no trouble at all due to the other Jinchūriki's frequent movement on the lower floors, the guards on the higher levels had given Naruto a little more difficulty.
At first Naruto resorted to using his status as 'Sasuke-sama's personal pet' as means to moving forward; insisting that his Master had sent him on some wayward mission. However, when it became apparent that Sasuke's name no longer held any merit with some of the guards, Naruto was forced to say that he was Fugaku's pet and that the Regent would be very upset if Naruto was delayed. He had inwardly cringed every time he had used that lie.
Naruto really wished he had dressed in actual clothes before tromping through the castle. Honestly, what was he thinking? It would have been easier to hide his collar and tell the guards that he was a new guard or something, but he couldn't exactly do that when he was wandering around in nothing but his jammies and socks!
Naruto all but gnawed on the inside of his lip and watched his socked feet pad across the stone ground as he paced back and forth through the hallway. Posing as a guard wouldn't work, but maybe claiming to be a doctor would. It wouldn't be strange for a doctor to come to check on the King in the middle of the night still dressed in his sleepwear.
His brows furrowed as he wondered if he looked too young to pass off as a doctor. Probably. Fucking, dammit…
'But there're young doctors!' he reasoned with himself. There were geniuses like Sasuke and Shikamaru who could easily become doctors at a relatively young age if they put their minds to it. Besides, Granny Tsunade said she was older than she looked so Naruto could say the same thing. Naruto nodded in agreement to his own thinking.
'Ok,' Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet as he started to get pumped about his plan, 'This could work. No, this will work. I can do this.'
Naruto paused in his bouncing and shook out his arms and legs while stretching his neck like he was getting ready to fight or run a marathon. Once his body was relaxed, he turned around and took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly to calm his nerves.
'It's now or never,' he thought as he began his way back down the hallway towards his destination.
His heartbeat picked up as he approached the corner that would expose him to the King's guards. Just as he was about to step out into the open, Naruto was grabbed from behind by a strong set of arms that nearly scared him to death. One arm wrapped around his waist while the other came up to clasp a hand over his mouth to silence his yelp of surprise as he was dragged back down the hallway against a large, warm chest.
Before he was dragged too far, Naruto took a large step back and twisted his hips to loosen the hold about his waist. He then brought his shoulder back and maneuvered his arm until it could reach around his would-be captor's waist. He used his free hand to grab onto the arm that had been wrapped around to cover his mouth and pivoted his body to throw the person over his hip.
Mid-throw a whispered cry of "Shit!" caught his ears as a head of honey colored hair moved past his vision. Realizing who he was about to body slam into the ground, Naruto quickly adjusted his stance and set the poor woman down.
Naruto frowned as the woman righted herself. "What the hell, Tsunade?!" the fox whispered in exasperation. He wasn't so unaware of his surroundings that he was going to start full out yelling at the doctor with the King's guards still right around the corner.
Tsunade tsk'd as she straightened her shirt over her large chest and motioned for the male to follow her a little farther down the hall to a room that she knew would give them the privacy they needed.
Unhappy that the plan that he had spent psyching himself up for had been rudely interrupted, Naruto reluctantly followed the doctor. He noticed Tsunade pick up a medical bag that she must have dropped in her haste to grab him on their way to the door. He watched as Tsunade wrenched the door open with more force than was needed, showing off her anger with him, before she turned on the light and stomped into the room and waited for him to enter. He raised an eyebrow at the narrow linen closet that he now shared with the older woman as he pulled the door closed behind him.
He opened his mouth to demand why she had scared the crap out of him, but she cut him off before he could speak.
"Brat, what the hell were you thinking?" Tsunade's hands were placed on her hips as she looked sternly at the young male.
An image of Iruka when he was angry at Naruto for doing something stupid passed through Naruto's mind as he looked at the doctor. Her hazel eyes promised pain if he dared tried to lie to her.
Naruto frowned, feeling his annoyance grow. He was finally getting off his ass and doing something and here he was about to be lectured for it. "What do you think I was thinking?" his eyes narrowed as his patience thinned. "I was trying to sneak in to see the King. Someone needs to tell him what the hell is going on!"
Tsunade sighed and softened her glare, "Look kid, I know how you are feeling; believe me I do, but you won't be able to get in there." She looked over his appearance with a raised eyebrow and snorted in amusement, "What were you going to tell them? That you were there for a sleepover or something?"
Naruto felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment. "No," he grumbled with a pout.
Tsunade continued, "Anyway, there are only two people allowed in that room. Uchiha Fugaku and Chiyo-baasama; Chiyo officially took over as King Obito's doctor once Fugaku decided he didn't want me near him. So whatever your plan was, may it be by force or some stupid lie, there was no way you would have made it through that door."
Naruto's frown had deepened as the doctor crushed his dream of getting to the King. However, it turned out Tsunade wasn't done stamping on his goals.
"I've known Chiyo for years and through…coaxing I've been able to find out some about the King's condition. It turns out that he's pretty much making himself sick." A look of sadness came over Tsunade's features and she sighed when she saw Naruto's look of confusion. "He had a little brother who was the most important person in the world to him. But he had suffered from asthma."
Naruto nodded, remembering Itachi's memory of the little boy, Shisui, who had complained about his brother as he used his inhaler.
Tsunade's brows furrowed as she remembered the sickly child. "The young prince was always pushing himself too much and he ended up getting a severe case of pneumonia that I unfortunately caught too late. The King was so distraught over the loss of his brother that he fell into a deep depression. He refused to get out of bed, stopped eating, and stopped talking." She shook her head, "That's why he's still sick. I thought his depression would lessen as the years passed, but I'm no psychiatrist."
"How do you know Chiyo's telling the truth?" Naruto asked. "How do you know Fugaku isn't just poisoning the King to keep him sick? Better yet, why hasn't Fugaku killed him yet so he could officially take over?"
"As much as I hate saying this about the man, Uchiha Fugaku still has his pride. I don't believe he would kill his own kin. He is so proud of the Uchiha lineage and what it represents. He's already earned the position of King's Regent and he was born next in line for the throne, so it's not like it's really hurting him to wait for the King to croak via natural causes." Tsunade shrugged as she finished.
Naruto's fist was clenched in barely contained anger. Apparently 'pride' had never crossed Uchiha Fugaku's mind while beating, raping, and mentally scarring his youngest son for who knew how long.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he verbally attacked Tsunade. "Fine," he said through clenched teeth, "then what do you suggest I do?"
"Do?" Tsunade took in Naruto's stiff posture and she shook her head in sympathy. "Sorry, brat, there's nothing you can do. At least, not with this on." She motioned to her collar.
'Fuck,' Naruto cursed as all of his hastily laid plans were laid to waste. 'Now what?' Should he go back to Sasuke's room? He really didn't want to… especially since he was sure that it was still early enough for the 'fuckening' to still be happening. He pursed his lips in contemplation.
"Come with me. I want to show you something," Tsunade said, breaking Naruto out of his musing.
Having nothing better to do, Naruto nodded and followed the doctor out of the supply closet.
It wasn't until they had descended two flights of stairs that Naruto broke the silence. "So what were you doing up there anyways? I didn't see you in the hallway when I was pacing."
Tsunade shrugged, "I was checking in on a guard who wasn't feeling well. That corridor you were wandering in happened to house some guard's rooms. The King's personal guard, in fact. Luckily, I happened to come out of the room just as you passed it, but you were too preoccupied to notice me."
Naruto cringed and scratched the back of his neck once he realized that he really could have gotten himself in a lot of trouble. "Thanks," he mumbled in embarrassment.
Tsunade nodded, but said nothing more as they continued making their way downward.
They entered the infirmary about fifteen minutes later. Naruto looked around the long narrow room, wondering why he was there. He hadn't really gotten a chance to look around the last two times he had been in the room, so he took a moment to take in his surroundings.
A low hum filled the room from the lights overhead that were turned down dim so they didn't disturb the patients that Naruto assumed were sleeping behind the curtains that had been pulled closed towards the far end of the room. Empty beds lined one wall were the curtains were drawn back, while medical cabinets lined the opposite wall. To Naruto's immediate right was a large multi-layered desk flanked with large filing cabinets.
Tsunade lead Naruto to the back of the room and drew back one of the curtains revealing a sickly looking man sleeping comfortably in the narrow bed. The man's face was deathly pale and had a sheen of sweat covering it, while his brown hair hung messily around his face and chin. A crisp white hospital blanket was pulled up to the man's shoulders blocking the rest of his body from view. If it wasn't for the shiny metal collar with its glowing blue lights around the man's neck, Naruto wouldn't have known that the comatose man was a Jinchūriki.
Naruto frowned when he noticed the thin cables running from under the blanket to a large machine that showed the man's vitals. There were also some tubes leading to IV drips. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, feeling his throat constrict.
"He has the flu," Tsunade stated calmly as she looked down at the sick man.
Naruto looked at the doctor with wide eyes. He of course knew what that was from growing up around humans, but he had never heard of someone getting sick enough to need to be hospitalized, and he had never known of a Jinchūriki to catch the virus. He looked back down at the sleeping man. "But," he began, at a loss for words.
"It's these damn collars," Tsunade's voice cut through his confusion. "Without our chakra it's harder for us to fight off diseases and other things that threaten to attack our bodies. Jinchūriki don't have human immune systems. While humans have to expose their bodies to certain illnesses so they can develop antibodies, our chakra completely kills the illness before it enters our system. It's a natural shield. Of course our bodies are naturally stronger than a humans, otherwise all collared Jinchūriki would have fallen ill and died years ago. However, some aren't so lucky."
Tsunade watched as Naruto clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides while he processed the information she just told him. It was unclear as to what he was feeling about the whole thing. If she had to guess, she would say a mix of fear, sadness, confusion, and anger.
"We've only had one death in the castle in the last seven years. It was a snow rabbit named Kane. He got sick after staying outside in the snow for too long while chopping wood for the fire. I'm telling you this because you're not the only one that wants to make a change. These collars need to go, I know that. However, getting yourself killed isn't going to help anyone."
"And not doing anything isn't going to help anyone either," Naruto said in a tired voice.
"When you've been here as long as I have you learn to choose your battles. I'm just trying to save the people I can," Tsunade said quietly.
They remained quiet for a moment until the man in the bed released a small moan and opened his eyes.
Tsunade shifted to the side of the bed and smiled down at the patient, "Hey there, Hayate. How are you feeling?"
Naruto took that as his cue give them some privacy and moved away. He walked over to the front of the room and waited by the desk, not really knowing if he should just leave or wait for the doctor to finish with her patient.
He soon became bored shifting from one foot to the other as he stared at the wall and began looking at the contents of the desk. There were various medical supplies: a stethoscope, cotton balls, tongue depressors, and a box of gloves. He had a sudden urge to steal a glove and blow it up like a balloon, but figured that Tsunade wouldn't want him messing with her stuff.
His gaze traveled over a microscope, a few Petri dishes with cultures growing in them, and a rack of blood filled test tubes. There were a few little machines close to the tubes that gave off a humming noise and Naruto wondered what they did, but he once again refrained from touching them.
He then moved his eyes to the paperwork that was on the main part of the desk. He knew he was being nosy, but he was bored and it wasn't like he was hurting anyone. Most of the papers were of charts and numbers and Naruto was quickly finding himself bored again.
Just as he was about to look away, a name on one of the paper caught his eye. Naruto bent over the desk to get a better look. 'Uchiha Sasuke' was printed neatly at the top of the document. Naruto's eyes widened. He placed his hands on either side of the paper and quickly began to scan the document. It looked like some sort of blood work. The blood sample had been taken a few days ago and the results had just come back today. Naruto looked over the list.
His eyebrows furrowed. The entire list was for STDs? He read over the list again, remembering learning about some of the major ones in school, but he hadn't heard of most of these (and couldn't even pronounce the majority of them). His breath picked up and his eyes quickly moved to the results. All negative. 'Oh, thank God,' he released a heavy sigh and let his head fall between his outstretched arms.
His head snapped up when a hand suddenly yanked the paper out from between his fingers. He turned his head to see Tsunade staring at him. He grinned nervously at her, knowing he had been caught looking at something he wasn't supposed to. She raised an eyebrow and moved to one of the filing cabinets. Naruto couldn't help but notice that the section she filed Sasuke's paperwork in was quite big. He wondered how often Sasuke got tested.
Sasuke may have been putting him though hell, but he couldn't resist asking. "Hey, Granny-"
"Look, brat," Tsunade cut him off, "If you have a problem with Sasuke you have to talk to him about it. He's always been as stubborn as a mule, but all it takes to get through to him is a good kick in the pants. Believe me; I've known him since he was born. When he was younger he would refuse to high heaven to admit that he was sick, and the only way that I was able to get him to allow me to examine him was by getting right up in his face and challenging him to suck it up and be a man; and that was when he was seven. He's the same now. He won't listen unless you force him to."
Naruto stood staring at the doctor for a minute before thanking her and leaving. He had a lot to think about and decided that he would do it tomorrow after getting a good night's sleep.
When he returned to the bedroom it was quiet, the fire had burned down to embers and Naruto chose to lie down and sleep in his cot for the first time in weeks. He fell asleep almost instantly once again unaware of the obsidian eyes watching him from the bed across from him.
Sasuke suppressed a sigh and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His fingers were itching to reach into his pocket to check the time on his phone. It had to be close to three pm by now, meaning that he had been sitting in court for ten hours now. All he wanted was to go back to his room so he could take a shower and nap before he could return to his boring life of paperwork and trying to ignore his infuriatingly sexy pet.
He kind of dreaded the thought, but maybe he would ask the blond for a spar. It was something he hadn't done in a while since physical contact with Naruto, and the fire in the blond's eyes (a look that he missed so much) set a flame burning in his stomach, always made him feel things that he would rather not. Those feelings would of course push him even harder into going out in search for a fuck buddy to relieve himself of the sexual frustration that the Jinchūriki constantly thrust upon him.
Sasuke silently snorted in bitter amusement at his own line of thinking. There was no way he would be asking Naruto to spar with him today. Not after what happened last night…
It felt like Sasuke's world was crumbling around him when he watched Naruto leave his room the night before. Naruto had had the same blank, emotionless face that he had been wearing over the past week as he strolled silently across the room. He hadn't even acknowledged the activity a few feet away from him on the bed. Gone was that look of shock and hurt that Naruto had had all those weeks ago. He just didn't care anymore.
That was why Sasuke had left him to sleep alone in his bedroom instead of bringing him to court today. He had honestly been surprised and relieved, though he didn't want to admit it, when the blond had returned to the room a few hours later.
The young Uchiha sighed again. Maybe this was all too much trouble… Scratch that. This was too much trouble. Not only was he constantly on the verge of an emotional breakdown (something that he had been trying to avoid for years), but his liver would probably shut down before he hit thirty if he kept drinking the way he had over the past few weeks.
He was pulled out of his sulking by his father's announcement of court's conclusion.
'Finally,' he silently rejoiced as he rose from his seat and followed his father and brother from the grand hall through one of the side doors that led deeper into the castle. He had just turned down a hall to head towards his room when his father called out to him halting him in his tracks.
"Sasuke," Fugaku called.
Sasuke turned and looked questioningly at his father.
"I've decided to take back ownership of that blond Jinchūriki of yours. Bring him to my room tonight after you've eaten your dinner," Fugaku commanded as he looked down at his youngest son.
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise at his father's words.
A.N.- How's that for a cliffhanger? BWAHAHAH! Anyways, I know many of you were wondering who Itachi's pet was so I hope you're happy with the fact that it's Kisame. I know that there are a lot of KisaIta fans out there, but I got a kick out of writing Kisame's reaction when Naruto asked him about their relationship. The reason for Itachi's ownership over Kisame will be explained at a later time. You will also find out what Sasuke talked about with Shika and Tem later as well. Hope everyone enjoyed it!
I know there was a lot of pov changing during dinner, but I didn't want to have a page break every few lines so I hope I didn't confuse people too bad...
So I have developed little backgrounds for pretty much all of my OCs. A part of one was revealed in this chapter. So here's a fun little clue to link the character in this chapter to one who has shows up in previous ones. Let's see if anyone can figure our their connection. "When pronounced in Japanese, their names have the same meaning" Good luck!
Next chapter- It's about fucking time!