Tainted Embrace

Hey! Thank you for all the reviews! I'm gonna update early cos I got more than I expected. It's strange how such simple things can make me happy, lol. 2 reviews for the next chapter please. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

A.N. Warning, this chapter contains yaoi and violence. Italics means that's someone's thoughts or emphasis.

Have fun reading!

Chapter 3 - Recollections

The wind itself seemed to try and slow the Uchiha as he ran, his vision wavering as the rain showered down around him. His clothes were heavy and clung to him as he moved. Emotions flooded through him like someone had opened a dam. His breath came in gasps and a painful stitch was growing in his side. He was far from being unfit, but his current condition was effecting everything. Visions of what could have happened to his lover flashed through his mind, and Sasuke had to shake his head to clear them away. Naruto was fine, he had to be.

Sasuke stumbled to a halt as he came to the centre of town, and relief washed over him as he saw the blonde alive on the ground, the rain making his hair and clothes stick to him. He rushed to his side and bent down, checking his breathing just to make sure. There were no wounds covering his body, no blood or guts. It seemed the blonde had blacked out again. But where did the scream come from? Sasuke looked around, blinking through the rain, and felt his heart flutter as he saw the victim. The body was unrecognisable, the gashes and tears of the clothes and skin were horrific. The blood was being washed to the gutters by the rain, and Sasuke noticed the head protector lying undamaged by the body's side. He shook his head in sorrow and concentrated his chakra, sending out a wavering signal to the other patrol who were on duty, signifying there had been another accident. If they had found a suspect, he would have sent out a single blast of chakra, as if he was going to fight.

Sasuke wiped his bangs off his forehead and shifted Naruto's body so he could pick him up. He shuffled over to one of the buildings and sat the blonde down on the doorstep so he was out of the rain. Sasuke brushed the blond locks out of the way as he studied the other's face. Behind his eyelids, he could see Naruto's eyes darting about, as if he were dreaming. The blonde's breathing was low, and his body was tense. He must be having one of those dreams again, Sasuke thought, but then wondered how he could be dreaming if he had blacked out. He turned when he heard the other shinobi land. They were two jounin that were a few years older than him. One bent down next to the body and sighed. The other turned towards the couple.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. My partner suddenly disappeared and I heard a scream. I just got here. There wasn't any disturbances other than that." The male shinobi nodded and glanced to the unconscious blond.

"He was lucky then. Get back to the patrol station and send a message to the Hokage at once."

Sasuke nodded and pulled Naruto over his back, lifting him so he was giving him a piggy back. His arms lay over the Uchiha's shoulders limply as Sasuke sent chakra to his feet and shot up onto one of the roofs in a blink of an eye, running towards the station at full speed. He kept his eyes and ears sharp for any hints to the killer still being around. He glanced over his shoulder to Naruto's still face. What's wrong with him? he thought worriedly.

Naruto winced as he felt the wet cloth dab the back of his head, cleaning the small cut he had received when he had fallen over. He sat in a small medical room, the white walls bright but boring. Instruments and bottles with strange liquids filled the shelves, locked behind a sheet of glass. He shivered as a droplet of liquid fell down his bare back; he had removed his shirt, jacket and boots so he wouldn't have to sit in wet clothes as he was looked over. He had woken no more than ten minutes ago, with Sasuke hovering beside him protectively, worry on his features. Sakura was treating the wound on his head, once again not having been healed by the Fox. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with the medical shinobi behind him, and the Uchiha was leaning against the window sill before him, a towel in his hand as he dried his damp hair. The sky outside the window had lightened, and the rain wasn't as heavy as before. Morning had come, bearing more bad news for the village.

"So these black outs have been recent?" Sakura asked him. He nodded. He felt chakra form around her hands as she healed the wound, and then proceeded to check the rest of him for injuries, or anything out of the ordinary. "Well, there's nothing else wrong with you," she sighed, coming round to face him.

"But he's blacked out twice in the space on twenty-four hours. Something has to be causing them," Sasuke replied, chucking the towel at the blonde so he could dry himself.

"Maybe it's stress. Maybe you're working too hard," the pink haired shinobi shrugged.

"No. Something was different this time," Naruto said quietly. Sasuke stood and sat next to him as the blonde ran a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Last time, I just collapsed; I just fell over, knocked out. But this time, it felt as if someone was putting me to sleep, like I was drugged."

"Do you think it was the killer?" Sakura asked, her voice full of uncertainty and alarm. Naruto shrugged, rubbing his temples from his headache.

"I don't know. I don't really remember what happened."

"How about you tell us anyway?" another female voice asked. The trio turned to see Tsunade standing in the doorway. She closed the door behind her as she came in and stood next to Sakura. "How're you doing?" she asked the blonde.

"I'm fine. Just got a bump on the head," Naruto replied with a small smile. Sasuke had told him what happened after he collapsed, and he was unnerved at the memory. It was hard to believe only moments before he had seen the shinobi alive, and then he woke to find he had been the next victim. Sasuke had found him near by the dead body, so he had been in sight of the killer.

"Can you recall the event for me?" the Hokage asked patiently. She knew Naruto wasn't as well as he appeared to be, but now that there was another murder, more action had to be taken. Naruto nodded and studied his hands as he spoke.

"Me and Sasuke were on duty and I heard a disturbance in an alley, so I checked it out. I found a cat and tried to get it to go back inside but it ran off. I noticed the... the shinobi alone and went to warn him. But my body was moving on its own, and I forgot about Sasuke or the fact not to go off alone. Next thing I know I'm on the ground," Naruto told them, scratching the back of his head and shifting uncomfortably under their gazes.

"Did anything else happen?" Tsunade asked. Yet again, there seemed to be no evidence accept for the body, and the investigation was going no where.

Naruto was frowning, his face buried in concentration. "There was somebody else there... he... he was laughing." The others were paying attention to his every word, but the blonde offered no more than that. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, if I had been able to -"

"Don't be silly, you have nothing to apologize for. You were lucky you weren't attacked while you were unconscious," Tsunade said to him. "He obviously targets shiobi and is somehow absorbing their chakra, but the fact he ignored you and your high chakra levels might mean he's picking the targets based on more personal reasons. I have Shikamaru working on the motive."She sighed and glanced to the Uchiha. "If it isn't too much trouble, you should stay with Sasuke in case any thing happens if you black out again."

The blonde looked up to her in surprise and Sasuke suppressed a smirk. "No objections from me."

"I bet there isn't," Naruto mumbled quietly so only the dark haired shinobi could hear.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "And, I'm taking you off active duty-"

"What!" Naruto shouted, shooting to his feet in anger. Sasuke grabbed the back of his belt and yanked him back down onto the bed, keeping a hold on his waist to keep him sitting. Naruto tried to get up again but was held back. His mouth opened and closed, but he finally came out with, "Why?"

"To reduce stress and the chance of another black out. You'd be rendered helpless if you collapsed again and would have no chance to protect yourself if attacked. You could also could compromise a mission," the woman said, and at that Naruto settled down.

"Okay, I understand," he said dispiritedly.

Tsunade nodded and unfolded her arms. "Go home and get some rest, I'll keep you informed." With that Naruto reluctantly pulled his wet t-shirt over his head.

Naruto sat on the edge of his bed, wearing only a pair of Sasuke's grey trousers, a towel hanging over his head to block out the light. His headache had gotten worse. He and Sasuke returned to his mansion-like house and Naruto had immediately taken a cold shower. He felt weak and tired, the pain in his head was slowly increasing. The lack of sleep didn't help. His mind kept reliving the few moments before he blacked out, and each time Naruto thought he should remember something important, but it slipped away from.

Sasuke wandered into the room and sighed at the sight of the blonde. Something was definitely wrong with him. He flicked off the slight switch, plunging them into darkness. He knew what it was like to have bad headaches, and the best thing for him to do was lie in the dark without any interruptions. He went over to the still form of the blonde and pulled off the towel, gently pushing him back onto the bed and pulling the covers over him. He knelt beside Naruto with one of his hands in his own.

"Try to get some sleep, you need it," he whispered softly. He went to stand but his hand wasn't released. He looked down as Naruto glanced up to him.

"Stay," he said simply.

Sasuke smiled lightly and crawled over him, coming to rest at his side and wrapping his arms around the blonde. Naruto snuggled into him and was thankful for his company. He always felt better when Sasuke was around. But this time he had to voice his worries, this time he couldn't let them wash away in his lover's embrace.

"Sasuke, I'm worried." His tone of voice was enough to get the Uchiha's full attention. "When I blacked out on duty, instead of just being unconscious, I was having one of my dreams."

Sasuke remembered back to when he found Naruto, when he noticed his eyes darting about under their lids. Naruto's statement proved him right. "That's why you had a cold shower." It wasn't a question. Sasuke didn't want to make Naruto say anything he didn't want to tell. He lay there, waiting patiently.

"It was different. Instead of just feelings and the Fox's laughter... I... I saw things. I think they were his memories."

This surprised the Uchiha. He didn't expect that kind of thing could happen. The Kyubi had been with Naruto since he was a babe, and when he became angry enough he could use the Fox's chakra, but nothing else had been passed on from the Fox before. His interest suddenly peaked at what the Kyubi had been doing before attacking Konoha and being sealed inside the blonde. What do demons do all day? Do they really just go around killing things? Or are they more like animals than thought possible, having families of there own?

"I don't think they're random memories either. He's showing me them deliberately. Images of him fighting battles, attacking villages and killing so many people. Death really does surround him. But I think he slipped up. He showed me something where he must have been younger, because he's smaller than a horse. Humans were trying to kill him, chase him away and injure him. It was saddening, and kinda reminded me of when I was younger." Naruto was still, his voice was low and quiet, and for a moment Sasuke thought he heard sympathy in his lover's tone. He pulled the blonde into him for reassurance for himself as much as the other.

"I can hear him speaking to me sometimes, but whenever I'm fighting he's always trying to get me to use more power, to hurt my opponents more than necessary." Naruto shivered in his arms. "It's getting worse."

Sasuke closed his eyes as he unconsciously stroked the blonde's hair. He felt annoyed at not being able to do anything for his lover, and Naruto must be even more frustrated. His body was being used as an outlet for the Kyubi in fights, and now his mind was being pounded with horrific images, and there was nothing he could do about it. He felt the blonde's hands curve around his waist as he buried his head in the Uchiha's embrace. Sasuke kissed the blonde on his head and let out a deep breath.

"When the killer is found we'll go to Tsunade and ask if she knows anything in how to block out the Fox," the dark haired shinobi said, and felt the blonde nod against him. He lay there for a while, Naruto already having fallen asleep. He couldn't help but worry at what the Fox was up to.

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KCT