I'm actually adding another chapter of this because I can't think of anything to put on 'Perfect Scenario' which really sucks because… well… it's the MAIN fic I'm working on. Well, I have the other two but they were random.

Summary: Severus has decided to tell Naruto that he's a jinchuuriki.

Rating: Teen-ish

Words: 1,349

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Severus gazed into the cup of hot tea, the steam still swirling on the surface of the liquid. He had made it seconds before after his nightmare decided to come back after being MIA for weeks. It was unfortunate that he had yet to force himself to seek out Zabuza for comfort and Gaara was under a new variation of Dreamless Sleep that was successfully holding so far. He hadn't seen the sand shift and the boy's face was completely relaxed. When the redhead awakened, he would have to ask him if anything odd happened and hopefully he wouldn't lie.

He let out a sigh and brought the cup to his lips, listening to the silence that echoed in the still house. Never had Severus thought that he would actually long for Naruto chattering on about trivial things or the gritty movement of Gaara's sand or the musical laughter of Haku as he danced around for little reason than he was happy. He hadn't thought that he would miss the perverted comments of Katsuya or the straying hands of Zabuza.

A smile flitted across his pale features as he knew that it wouldn't be but hours until most of those events occurred when everyone was conscious. Family life wasn't as horrid as Severus had forced himself to believe. It was quite comfortable once he stopped lying to himself.

"Sev!"

The Potions Master nearly threw his cup as he launched out of his chair, ears alert as the cry from one of his sons echoed in the silence. There was a thud and Severus was already at the stairs when the boy's bedroom door was thrown open. He came face to face with a sweating Naruto, blue eyes half-mast with sleep but body tense with fear that rolled off his short body. Severus met him half way, glancing into the room to see that the other two were perfectly fine so it must have been a nightmare that caused such a reaction.

He pulled the clinging boy from his legs and moved the weight to his arms, carrying the child down the stairs so that they would not wake Haku. He looked down at Naruto who was looking about frantically while hugging his neck and waist as tightly as his arms could which was short of cutting off Severus' airways completely. He had never seen such fear in the cheerful blond, never knew that the child would ever have such an expression.

"Naruto, what is wrong?" Severus murmured. Naruto let out a sob, tears soaking into his shirt and pushed his body closer as if to sink into him. Severus made several noises of comfort and rubbed the child's back the same as he had done Haku.

"Sev, I don't want you to leave me. You're my papa and I love you, Sev. Please say you won't leave me," Naruto begged, pulling his face from the thin man's chest. Severus' brow furrowed in confusion but his nod was cut off as the child's hands cupped his face desperately and blue eyes burned into his.

"Promise!" he practically demanded.

"Naruto, I am not going anywhere, now tell me what has gotten that silly thought in your head that I was," Severus finally said, grabbing the tan hands and pulling them from his face. Naruto's entire body loosened and a small smile spread across his face.

"I—don't think I'm crazy. But there's this voice in my head," Naruto confessed as he settled onto his papa. He wrapped his arms across the man's thin waist and dug his head into the man's chest, obviously deciding where he would be resting for the remainder of the evening. He felt Severus stiffen and then relax once again.

"Continue," Severus urged.

"It… sometimes it says mean things when I'm really, really quiet. When I talk it doesn't say anything like his voice is too low to be heard over mine so I always talk. But… at night, I can't talk and that's when he talks. He says stuff like… like you don't love me. And that I should kill you and… it's so—so horrible. It likes blood and it likes Gaara in a bad way but it calls him Shukaku," Naruto whimpered a little but relaxed as Severus' hand rested onto his bad. He paused and enjoyed the feeling of his papa comforting him and he rubbed it in the evil's voice face. Sev would never leave him or hurt him. Sev loved him. As he silently boasted to himself, he noticed that the voice had yet to speak during their quiet moment and Naruto was happy.

"It first started to talk when I was four. The village kids were chasing me and… I couldn't run fast enough. They were calling me names and throwing rocks at me. And one of them hit me in the head really hard, right here," Naruto parted his hair to show a faint scar in his scalp. Severus winced as he thought of how much blood must have been pouring from the young child. "It hurt really bad and I couldn't stop bleeding. Then they was all around me. They were still calling me names and kicking dirt in my eyes and I was crying. I was so—so scared. That's when it started to talk. It told me that if I hurt them… killed them then they wouldn't hurt me. I was gonna listen to it. I was gonna hurt them but somebody had came. He yelled at the mean kids and helped me to the hospital. When nobody helped he yelled at all of them until they were looking down at their feet and then they helped. He was nice—said that when I started the Academy that I'd be one of his students."

Severus felt guilt nibbling at his toes and starting to reach upwards until it would eventually engulf him. It wasn't right that Naruto ignorantly had to fight his demon in the still of the night. He hit himself in only thinking of Gaara who didn't have a seal and not of the cheerful blond who spoke of the horrors his demon haunted his dreams in the silence of the night and sometimes came to him in the light of morning. It was obvious that sometimes Naruto's smiles would be forced or just not at their full potential but he had been thinking of Gaara and Haku and all of their safety.

"And… then it… sometimes I think I see it when I'm sleeping but I don't really remember. I just remember standing in front of a big, big gate. It's so dark and I'm really, really scared. I keep looking around but there's nothing but this big gate and then I notice the white sign on it but I can't see what it says. Then the voice starts talking from behind the gate. It's telling me to let it out and then I see it but I never remember what it looks like but I know that I see it because I wake up."

Severus felt his determination come full force. He was going to tell the boy that he was harboring a demon. It would answer Naruto's unsaid questions about the voice he heard and it would help the child come to term. Naruto also had the right to know. Hell, it would probably save someone's life if the demon he held were to ever full convince the child to let it loose. He had yet to find out what demon Naruto harbored but he was sure he could find out.

"Naruto, the voice you hear is a demon's. You are a jinchuuriki like Gaara but I do not know what demon you have. Your brother has Shukaku, the One-Tailed beast. If you would like to know which… demon…?" Severus frowned as he heard snoring and looked down to see Naruto sleeping. Drool was dripping from his mouth and Severus felt his crooked nose wrinkle in disgust. Severus sighed and allowed his head to fall backwards.

He had been so close…

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The End

Okay, so I got some hopes up that Naruto would finally know about his demon but, eh. Sacrifices have to be made. What do you think?

I actually made this because Naruto doesn't have it easy no matter how much he smiles. His demon still wants to get out like all the other demons do.