Title: Bleeding Heart

Series: Naruto

Rating: PG-13-R

Pairings: M/M, M/F/M, F/F

'Thoughts', "Talking", Telethapy /Flashback/

Disclaimer: I own nothing expect for Alex, Dani, Syd, and Eden.

Sorry for the terribly long delay. I have decided that I don't really care what people think about this story because I like it. I will finish it, it might take awhile, but for those who do like it please be patient. School is hectic and I have one other fanfic and two original stories in progress. So please enjoy the story.

Chapter Five

"Wow, it's really coming down out there," Temari whispered staring out the window. They had met up with Gaara and Neji about an hour after they had left the long haired boy. After chatting for a bit she was able to convince Eden into leaving the boys with them. Temari had noticed the subtle glances at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. They had run into Gai when it first started raining. Being the kind weirdo he is, he invited them to wait out the storm at his house.

"It's really coming down out there," TenTen whispered quietly. "I hope no one is out there."

"Sydney probably is," the San siblings replied. Gaara glanced around the room taking everything in. The Hyuuga sat by himself in the corner, his sister and her lover sat in front of the window, Gai was in the kitchen making hot chocolate. He had expected Lee to be with his beloved teacher, but he was sitting by himself. He walked over to the fuzzy eyebrowed boy and sat next to him.

"What's wrong with you? You're usually so...bouncy." Lee looked up surprised to see him. The smaller boy didn't strike him as the type to speak without being spoken too. He really seemed to have changed since the last time he saw him.

"Nothing," he lied. Gaara gave him a bland look and he looked away ashamed. His gaze landed on Gai, his face flushing immediately. Gaara noticed this and titled his head confused.

"Why do you get red when you look at him?" he asked bewildered. He remember something his sister had once told him when he was younger. Though he never really understood what she meant, it seemed to apply here. "Do you love him?" He watched as the other boy sputtered shocked before nodding quietly.

"I know it's wrong, but I really do," he whispered morosely.

"I thought love was never wrong," he said recalling his sister's words from long ago. Lee looked at the sand child before smiling gently.

"You're right, but Gai would never love me like that," he replied. Gaara slyly glanced into the kitchen with a smirk. 'I think you're wrong.' Gai leaned against the wall hidden from his pupil. 'Lee loves me!' He felt elated and couldn't wait until he could get the boy alone. He noticed Neji glaring at the pair with jealousy in his creamy eyes. 'Neji likes Lee?' he thought confused. 'No, that doesn't seem right.' He carefully followed the path of the boy's gaze and found it on the red head. 'Ah, so it's Gaara. Hmm...maybe they'll need a little push.'

"What did you do!" Alex shouted at the silent Uchiha. If the older boy on the floor really was Kyuubi she was going to murder the stoic boy. Naruto could feel the anger radiating off the smaller girl and quickly jumped to the other boy's defense.

"He didn't do anything," he said trying to abate her anger. "All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain and then I blacked out." Alex rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. She knew the Kit was lying, but he obviously didn't want her hurting the other boy. A pained groan filled the room and their attention shifted back to the red head. He patted his hands all over his body looking for wounds. He felt his chest and blinked at the empty feeling..

"I can't feel the Kit," he said unaware of the others.

"Kyuubi!" Naruto and Alex cried. The red head snapped his attention to them. His red slitted eyes increased in size as he saw Naruto. "What? How is this possible?" he asked them

"I don't know," the blond whispered downcast. "Are we separated? I still have the seal on me, but..." he trailed off confused.

"No, we're not. You still have the seal and I can't access my full powers. This means we're still bound to one another. I guess I have my own human body, for now anyway," he said waving a hand at his fleshy appearance.

"Which just happens to be naked," Alex said with a blush. She quickly diverted her eyes from the demon.

"And that's a problem?" he asked blinking in confusion. Humans had too many rules and we're prudes when it came to their bodies. It was normal for demons to run around in their fur and right now this flesh was considered his fur.

"Yes that's a problem," she sighed in resignation. "Naruto go put some clothes on your demon." Kyuubi flashed a big grin when the blond took his hand. He wrapped an arm around the thin waist.

"It's good to finally see you in person," he purred. He ran his other hand through the soft blond tresses. "You're beautiful Kit." 'Just like him.' He kissed the stunned boy's cheek and let himself be led out of the room. He stopped by the dark child's side and growled out a low warning. "Leave him alone."

"This is definitely new and really strange," Tsunade said when the two left.

"I've never seen this before," Alex murmured. She glanced out to see the rain beating against the windows. "It's late and pouring out. You might as well stay for the night." Tsunade glanced at the Uchiha for permission; after all it wouldn't do to just take over the boy's house. Sasuke nodded reluctantly. He really wanted to speak with Naruto, but it was obvious it wouldn't happen tonight.

"Kakashi and Iruka can stay, but I must be leaving," Tsunade stated.

"Where's the pervert?" Alex inquired. She hadn't see the old man since the morning.

"He left after you took Naruto," she explained. "He said he had to get something and then just left." Alex nodded even though she was wary of the pervert. "I need to be getting home now. Goodnight and don't kill each other." The smaller girl rolled her eyes at the light teasing.

"Say hello to Shizune for me," she said cheekily knowing about the older women's relationship. Tsunade grinned, grabbed the girl for a hug, and kissed her forehead before disappearing. Alex glanced at the two older ninja and cursed silently at the unease. "You think I'd be used to this already,' she grumbled mentally. "Yo brat," she called emotionlessly. Her tone unintentionally sent shivers racing down their spines. "Where's the room I'm staying in?" They stared at each other not blinking for a long while, before Sasuke looked away. 'Who does this girl think she is, calling me a brat?'

"Come with me and I'll show you," he bit out. "Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei. I'll take you to your rooms as well."

"What's happening?" Naruto questioned. His back was to the changing kitsune. Kyuubi stopped as he put one arm into the shirt's sleeve.

"I don't know Kit," he replied not wanting to look at his other. He looked so much like him it was hard to handle. "It's late and you need to get some rest. You're body still needs to recover." Naruto winced at the reminder of what happened earlier. He dejectedly crawled into bed and under the blankets. He jumped in surprise when two strong arms coiled around his waist and a hard chest pressed against his back. "I'm not going to let you get hurt Kit. I'll protect you whenever you need it."

"To protect you're host body," he whispered sadly. Kyuubi caught the whisper and gently rubbed the boy's stomach.

"No, to protect Naruto," he replied. "You're not just my host anymore Kit, you're my other half." He kept rubbing the stomach until the boy relaxed and finally fell asleep. 'Why do the gods torture us so?'

There was a firm knock at the door jarring him from his half-sleep state. He pushed the loose chestnut hair from his face and stood up. He was wearing a rumpled white t-shirt and a pair of gray draw string sweat pants. Sleepily he opened the door to find a pale, bare chested, unmasked Kakashi clad only in a pair of black sweat pants. Next thing he knew was the sound of the door closing and a tongue trying to snake its way into his mouth. He groaned and opened his mouth for the invader. Both men were breathless when Kakashi pulled back moments later. He gazed down at Iruka with a soft look in his mismatched eyes. He gently ran his fingers through the brown locks, before pulling his love to the bed. He leaned against the headboard with Iruka's head laying on his stomach.

"I didn't want to wake you, but I wanted to do that all day," he said playing with the silky hair.

"Don't worry about it," Iruka replied. "I really needed it anyway." He purred as the pale fingers ran around his scalp. He loved it when his hair was played with and the jounin never missed an opportunity to do so.

"Everything has been really weird today," whispered Kakashi. "A suicidal Naruto, caring Sasuke, strange girls, and Kyuubi."

"They're growing up," Iruka remarked quietly. "Naruto's bringing Sasuke into the light, and he even managed to tame the kitsune." The jounin looked down at his lover curiously.

"Just how long do you think he's been unhappy?"

"Happy?" his lover scoffed sitting up and facing him. "Happy? Naruto's never been truly happy," he whispered in a softer tone. "He's always put on a bright smile and acted like a fool. For awhile I even thought that's what he was really like. I try so hard to make sure he's happy, but deep down I know he's not. I just never realized he would do this." Kakashi put a hand behind the younger man's head and pulled him forward until his face rested against his neck.

"Iruka don't blame yourself," he whispered into his ear. "I never knew that he was unhappy. I should've seen it or even sensed it, but I didn't. It's everyone's and no one's fault at the same time. We've all been tricked by his facade. Please don't feel guilty about this, love." Iruka hugged the pale man's neck tighter and nodded.

"Those girls certainly are strange," he remarked wanting to change the topic. Kakashi looked down at him surprised at the comment,"

"You mean you don't know them?" He couldn't keep the shock out of his voice. He felt the younger man's head shake. "I thought for sure that you knew them seeing how close they are too Naruto."

"He must've met them when he was with Jiraiya," Iruka whispered. "It's good that he has someone to care about him."

"He has that here too," Kakashi replied.

"Yeah, but everyone, with the exception of Jiraiya and Tsunade started out hating him before they became friends with him. Don't deny it, you hated him too," he stated staring up at him. Kakashi averted his eyes feeling shame flood through him. His lover was right; he had hated Naruto even before he met him. He had believed that the boy had taken his mentor's life and had hated him passionately. When Sandaime requested he train the boy he adamantly refused until the old man forced him to cave in, and he was thankful he did. It had taken time, but Naruto's warmth had pulled him in. He couldn't stop himself from caring about him. It was only when he began teaching him did he realize the boy had done nothing wrong. The death of their beloved Hokage enraged the village and they were quick to pin the blame on the helpless baby. He had disrespected his mentor's memory by hating the boy.

"You're right. I did," he replied. "After meeting him and his eccentric personality I couldn't help caring about him."

"Even though he might be unhappy his warmth remains pulling people to him," Iruka murmured sleepily.

"Those girls...they're different somehow," Kakashi muttered. "I'm going to see Tsunade about them tomorrow, if you want to come." The academy teacher nodded tiredly before falling asleep. The jounin smiled gently and kissed the top of his head before following him.

Sasuke sat in the dark living room staring out the window. 'Did I cause this to happen?' He hadn't meant to hurt the blond. He didn't understand what came over him. The site of Kiba and Naruto together made his blood boil. He couldn't stomach the thought of the little blond with anyone else but him. 'Does this mean that I...love him?' He thought back over the years spent with Naruto: the time he was willing to give up his goal to save Naruto from Haku, the time the blond dragged him home and away from Orochimaru, the times they sparred to help each other grow stronger, times when they argued, suppressed smiles, and times he found himself wanting to laugh with the smaller boy. Naruto was the light in his life and he didn't want that to disappear. 'I do love him.' A deep rumble brought his attention to the doorway. The kitsune stood glaring at him. He glared at the demon in front of him. Kyuubi leaned down, placing his arms on either side of the boy. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in annoyance as the red slitted eyes stared at him.

"If you hurt my Kit," he hissed through clenched teeth, "I'll tear you apart, piece by piece." He growled at the boy before leaving. 'Why would the boy waste his time on that human? Humans are weak anyway,' he thought. 'Not all are weak,' came the whispered reply. 'Shut up,' he told his mind.

Alex sighed in annoyance as the younger snuggled under the blankets. Of all people to share a room with, it had to be her,' she thought irritated. She didn't hate Eden. In fact, the girl was one of her closest friend. She just moved too damn much in her sleep. She'd rather sleep with Sydney, but putting the other two girls together would be disastrous. Both girls were sound asleep by now. Sydney had returned about 15 minutes ago and was already out like a light. 'How can everyone sleep so peacefully?' She couldn't shake the feeling that things were going to get worse. If she wanted the others to trust them then they'd have to reveal the truth about themselves. 'Maybe that would knock the brat off his pedestal. If he knew how much more others have suffered than him he probably wouldn't be quite so annoying.' She looked out the window and saw the distorted moon through the drops of water. Life would be easier if she could read the moon too, but reading fire wasn't so bad. Eden made a gargled noise and rolled onto her stomach. She cracked open an eye and stared at Alex hazily.

"I saw his in the moon tonight," she whispered shyly.

"You saw who babe?"

"Yondaime," she whispered closing her eye. 'What?'

"Yondaime? Why?" She received no answer from the once again sleeping girl Her message made no sense. The moon never showed the dead before. Feeling her eyes grow heavy she decided to talk to Eden in the morning. She pulled blankets to her chest, turned on her side, and fell asleep.