Naruto sat next to Sasuke, like always. In the year he had been in school, Sasuke had turned into his favorite victim. There was nothing better then drawing out an emotional response from the boy that prided himself for being emotionally distant. More than once had Naruto reduced the boy to tears, but for some reason Naruto had always made sure there were no witnesses beside him. Not even the Uchiha was really aware it was Naruto behind the taunting waking nightmares, and each time Naruto improved his Genjutstu, adding and tweaking it until he was sure only a Genjutstu master could see through it. But today, as an after school activity, he had something different in mind then torturing the Uchiha. Once he perfected it on Sasuke, he decided to also use it on Cat, but unlike with Sasuke, there was no gentle build-up, just straight down to the horribly haunting nightmare. Naruto made his way home and peeked in through the window. Cat noticed Naruto and was about to get up and greet him when a strange feeling washed over him.
Cat looked around a little dazed. He looked around again, but found nothing out of place. Cat was at home, it was Dog's day to guard Naruto for the day, so he was alone. When he heard the front door open and close softly, followed by a few careful footsteps he perked up. He didn't recognise the tread of the steps and so got up to see who was there. "Hello?" He called out, before rounding the corner and seeing Naruto silently sitting on the floor. He seemed to be upset about something, judging from the shaking of the boy's shoulders. He was sitting with his back to Cat, staring at the front door. "Naruto..? What are you doing here? Where's Dog?" Throughout the years, he had come to care a great deal about Dog. Almost as much as he cared about Naruto.
Naruto's frame stilled. A few shaky breaths were taken before he slowly turned around. The moment it took was enough for Naruto to change from seemingly upset to practically gleeful. It was a transition Cat had seen many times in Naruto, but it was still unsettling. It left a great deal of uncertainty about what Naruto would do next.
Cat stumbled back when he saw Naruto's face. The signature blood curdling grin that always left Cat with a fearful pumping heart was now dripping with blood. Naruto's canines seemed to be elongated and his red eye was burning brighter than Cat had ever seen before. The dull blue eye was such a stark contrast, one could think there was no life left in that eye. There was enough blood to be dripping down his chin and soak his shirt. It was then Cat noticed something clutched in the young boy's hands, something familiar and something precious. "Naruto, what happened to Dog?" Cat's voice was shaking, unsteady and near anger, almost stern. It was Dog's necklace, something she held so dear, something she would never let anyone take away from her. A family heirloom and the last reminder of the family she had lost. The silver dog head pendant was now stained red as Naruto ran his fingers over it, only adding more grime to the piece of jewelry.
Naruto stood up and held out the pendant to Cat. "Now we can be alone together." The voice with which Naruto spoke seemed distant and disasociated from his body. It also didn't sound like Naruto. Just like the tread of footsteps Cat didn't recognise before, he didn't recognise the voice. It just made Naruto seem more dangerous.
The grin dropped from Naruto's face when Cat didn't respond. "Didn't you want that? Have me all to yourself? Haven't you wanted that since the moment you took down my beautiful barrier?" Cat swallowed. He realised Naruto hadn't moved his mouth as he spoke. Instead, the voice was echoing in his mind, reverberating and enhancing until Cat felt like he could bare them no longer. "No!" He croaked out. No, he did not want Dog gone. No, he never wanted Naruto all to himself. He just wanted... needed to be precious to Naruto like Dog was, but he already knew he was never going to be and he had accepted that a long time ago. The jealousy he had felt towards Dog had long since been dealt with... right?
Naruto looked up at him puzzled, tilting his head to the side. He dropped his hand to his side. "I didn't hurt her..."He added silently, like it was supposed to be a good excuse to make everything alright.
"N-Naruto, did you kill her?" Cat managed to ask. He still stood his ground, but he felt like everything was crumbling around him. They would take Naruto away, lock him up somewhere and let him rot. They would forget him and Cat would be the only one distraught over it. Naruto seemed to look down in shame before giving a small, single nod.
"Why? Why would you do that? I thought you liked her!" Cat exclaimed. He took a step closer to Naruto, unsure whether to scold, comfort or restrain the boy. Like that night so long ago, tears streamed down Naruto's face, drawing lines in the red.
"B-but you told me too..." He hiccuped and the sadness cut through Cat's heart while his mind rattled with confusion.
"What..? When, why would I..?" He felt a flash run through his head. A memory that wasn't his flashed through his mind. It was a moment in which he felt utterly desperate to gain Naruto's approval, but all he saw was Naruto focussed on Dog, laughing with her, smiling with her, hugging her and asking for her approval. Why didn't Naruto seek the same from him? Cat was as much a part of Naruto's life as she was and Cat put in so much more of himself, all for Naruto. If only Dog wasn't there, then maybe Naruto would love him like that. Unbeknownst to him, he had mumbled the deathwish out loud and the only ears that caught the desperate whisper were Naruto's.
Cat shook his head, trying to get rid of the memory that was quickly settling in his mind as real, the bitterness in it consuming him and becoming the truth. He reached out and closed his shaking fingers around the pendant Naruto was once again holding out. Cat swallowed again, before meeting Naruto's eyes. "You shouldn't have done that, Naruto. You know killing is wrong." Cat was struggling to breath, to see through his tears and to remind himself that the memory wasn't real. Even if it was real, Naruto should never have acted on it. Cat really thought they had gotten through to Naruto during the past years. Yes, the boy was still cruel at times, but he had never showed the tendency to kill again and now here he stood before Cat, soaked in blood and seeming so very fragile.
Cat saw Naruto shake a little, like he was suppressing tears. It broke Cat's heart and made him succumb to the urge to comfort Naruto. He kneeled down and wrapped Naruto in his arms. "It's okay, Naruto. I'm sorry for yelling at you." He gently stroked Naruto's back, hoping Naruto would calm down a little. If there was one thing Cat couldn't deal with, it were the moments in which Naruto was upset or sad. With the hug, he had pinned down Naruto's hands in between them and he now felt Naruto desperately clinging to his shirt. Naruto's shoulders started shaking before sobs were heard. "I liked Dog..." Naruto said in a sad voice. "I didn't want her to die. Why did you have to ask that of me? Weren't we happy? Weren't we like a family?" Naruto cried even louder, pulling Cat into his sadness as well. Guilt was pressing on Cat's conscience, guilt for tearing their family apart through a simple sentence. Guilt for making the one person precious to him above else cry. Guilt for causing the death of a good person and guilt for not feeling truly responsible for it.
The shaking frame in his arms slowly quieted as time passed. "Cat..." Naruto croaked out in a small voice. "Cat, I never said you would die without pain, did I?" He asked in a calm voice, pushing himself off of Cat so he could see into his eyes. Cat was met by the still burning red eye, but something was off. The blue eye seemed to be as intense as the red one. Slowly, slowly Cat realised Naruto hadn't been clutching his shirt and wasn't just pushing him backwards so he could look up at Cat, no, Naruto was sinking his claw-like nails into Cat's chest, digging a hole into his skin as blood poured out the wound. The pain settled in his every nerve. Pain far worse than just the wound should be able to give. "What did I say again? Cats should be drowned. Let's see if I can get you to drown in your own blood..." Naruto hissed, his lithe fingers penetrating deep into the chest cavity, stirring the inside and damaging the tissue.
Cat was frozen. He couldn't move. He was sitting back on his feet and all he could do was watch Naruto slowly raise his hand, clutching a kunai. He placed the tip on Cat's sternum, right at the point he knew the trachea would split towards both lungs and ever so slowly pushed it in deeper and deeper. Naruto looked up at Cat to see fear like never before shown on his face. Again he tilted his head, watching Cat's expression as he started twisting the kunai, damaging the tissue even more as he did so.
Cat was choking on the pain, he couldn't even scream. His breaths came in uneven pants, but at least he was still able to breath. Indescribable panic filled him at the thought of not being able to breath. His heart was racing like it knew his blood wouldn't be carrying the much needed oxygen for too much longer.
Naruto stopped. The kunai was nearing the point where it would puncture the trachea and a wicked smile played on his face. "Don't worry, Cat. I'll make sure you won't bleed out or lose consciousness until the very end." Naruto raise a bloodied hand and stroked Cat's cheek. Under any other circumstances it would be a loving and gentle gesture, now it just smeared Cat's own blood over his cheek, marking him with the promise of suffering and pain. Naruto stared into his eyes as he once again put pressure on the kunai, letting it sink into the trachea before moving it sideways a couple of times to make sure the wound would be big and open.
Without remorse, Naruto pulled the kunai back out and then grabbed wound, squeezing the edges together so only the minimal amount of the freely flowing blood escaped through it.
It didn't take long for Cat to start choking and coughing. At first only a few coughs, but even those coated his mouth in blood. With each passing second, his lungs filled more and more as he bled out into his own lungs. Cat clutched at Naruto, managing to grab his shoulder, staring with pleading eyes at the boy he cared so much for. He was only met with cold fascination. The grin was still there, that grin he had learned to fear over the last years, but never to this extent. "Does it hurt? Do you want it to stop?" Naruto hissed. "Dog didn't want to die either. She also asked me to stop. I didn't. I won't."
Cat felt tears run down his face. This was his fault. Everything bad that had happened to himself, to Dog and to Naruto, it was always his fault. He didn't deserve to live. He deserved this pain, but the fear, the ever present fear of losing everything, made him want to fight. "Stop." Cat sputtered out, followed by a coughing fit that left Naruto covered in crimson drops. Cat felt his hands shaking as he placed his other hand on Naruto's other shoulder, clutching them both. "Please..." He was begging, shamelessly begging for this to stop. For the pain to be over, for the feeling of his lungs filling up to disappear.
For a second, Naruto's eyes seemed to mellow out and Cat felt the pressure Naruto had held on the wound lessen. It only took a second for Cat to realise the true cruelty of what Naruto did. His wound started bleeding, draining some of the blood from his lungs, but not all of it, and definitely not fast enough to give him respite from this all. Instead, new fear flared when he saw Naruto take out Shinobi wire from his pouch. With a few quick stitches, the wound was closed, letting just a little trickle of blood seep out. After that, Naruto pushed Cat back, so he was with his back against the wall, sitting on his butt. Cat moved his shaking hands to the wound in his chest, desperately trying to undo the stitched, but he was stopped. Naruto had stepped forwards and was crouched in between Cat's legs. He grabbed Cat's hands and gently pulled them away. Still that damned grin decorated Naruto's face as he pulled the rapidly weakening hands away from the wound.
Cat coughed again, his mouth, lips and chin were completely coated and more blood was added with every ragged breath he took. He was beginning to lose consciousness. Every desperate breath seemed to provide his body with less and less oxygen, making his heart beating faster and faster, but only accomplishing a more suffocating feeling.
The pain was still burning through his every nerve, but it seemed to be getting more and more distant. He saw Naruto, but he seemed to blur out more and more. He felt his heartbeat, but it seemed to grow slower and slower. He struggled for breath, but that seemed to become more and more shallow. He felt lightheaded and cold. The panic he felt before seemed to be replaced with resignation. He tried one last time to call out to Naruto. To tell him he loved him and even forgave him, but his lungs didn't have enough air in them anymore. His body didn't have any strength anymore. Just before he lost all consciousness, he felt is body fall limp. His hands hit the floor and his legs sagged to the side. Even his head lulled forwards, denying him Naruto's face as the last image he saw in his life. His last bit of sight flickered into all consuming darkness...
Cat woke with a startle. He clawed at his throat and chest, still feeling like he was choking. The pain from his fingernails digging into his skin a sweet relief from the pain lingering in his memory. His heart was beating fast and his breathing was shallow and quick. The sickening feeling of his lungs filled with blood rushed his memory, making him cough to get rid of the feeling that crept back into his lungs, but no matter how much he coughed, he couldn't get rid on the feeling. He coughed until he threw up and even after that it took him another half an hour to regain control over himself. His shaking hands kept finding their way to his chest feeling for the wound truly wasn't there.
He calmed down enough to truly realise he was still in the living room, laying in the floor. Frantically he looked himself over, but he found nothing. No wound, no damaged clothing, no red stains, nothing. Had it been a nightmare? But it felt so real, way too real to be a dream.
Then something dawned on his. A quick image of Naruto in the window. He had stood up for Naruto, to greet him at the door. Cat snapped his head towards the window, but didn't see anyone. He quickly looked around the room, but once again he didn't see anyone.
A new flare of panic washed over him when he heard the front door open and close, but he relaxed slightly when he recognised the footsteps as belonging to Dog. Dog stepped into the living room and gasped. "What happened, are you alright?" She hurried over and Cat watched Naruto walk in after her. His eyes seemed normal, for as far as they could be.
The grin was there and he watched Naruto raise a hand and hold a finger to his mouth, hushing him. "I, uhm, I woke up feeling really sick." A shiver ran down his spine, knowing at was Naruto that had pushed the scene into his mind so seamlessly. Cat averted his eyes, also trying to avoid catching Dog's eyes.
Dog placed a hand on his forehead. "You don't feel warm. Maybe you should go to bed." She said.
"Yeah... I'll... I'll clean this up and then I'll do that." He stood up on shaky legs and looked around, before moving to the kitchen to get the stuff needed to clean. He could feel Dog watch him move, but she didn't comment further. Naruto had gone, probably to his room, since Dog was still there. Trusting Dog as a guard to Naruto, Cat decided to take a walk instead of staying in the same house as Naruto. Maybe fresh air could clear his mind.