30_kisses theme # 27 Overflow

Candy coated drugs

Part XV

Eruption

Ever since Naruto had learned of how long Itachi had been watching him he'd become much more aware of himself. He became more confident that the feelings the Uchiha harbored were indeed real. He couldn't remember what it was like to be in Konoha, being hated because Itachi had whisked him off to a place where people didn't even know of the Kyuubi. Naruto noticed though, that as he went into his mid teens, that Kyuubi had begun to unsettle beneath the seal. He could feel the movements and hear the thoughts of the fox. Sometimes the thoughts were hatred harbored at Konoha, some were mumbles of hunger and boredom, and yet others were soft murmurings of lost memories and freedom. Naruto sometimes couldn't help but feel sympathy for the demon. He guessed it was that perhaps he knew the feel of hateful stares and assumed the demon got a lot of those.

Itachi had noticed the odd changes in Naruto's behavior. He noticed that as Naruto grew and learned more information, that he had begun to prod at the demon sleeping within him. The times when the blonde went silent, Itachi knew he was speaking with the fox, or at least making an attempt. He supposed it was Naruto's way of learning about himself. The silences though had become far more frequent since their visit to mist. Itachi sometimes wondered what the fox told him.

Naruto was in one of those rare contemplative moments. Itachi watched him from the corner of his eye. The air seemed especially tense this time. He turned when he noticed that Naruto had stopped walking. Soft sniffles could be heard from him.

Itachi couldn't understand the concept of tears. It had been lost on him so many years ago, so he asked, "Tears? What for?"

Naruto sniffled and responded in a small voice, "Why did everyone hate him so? He was defending his pride as I would. Just because he's a fox doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings."

Itachi frowned thoughtfully and watched as the teen overflowed with tears and sadness. The air suddenly felt hot from such a show of emotion, and Itachi knew it was not just Naruto's sadness, but the fox's sorrow as well. He was overcome with the feeling of immense chakra. Itachi frowned and knelt in front of the boy placing gentle hands on his shoulders. He was warm from the chakra outflow.

"Naruto, having even one person that cares can make things not as lonely."

Naruto stopped shaking. His eyes flickered between blue and red as he gazed sadly at the Uchiha.

"Really?"

"If the fox knows you care, that's all that matters. Just like you have those that care about you,"

"Itachi-rin, will you kiss me?"

"No..." Naruto looked crest fallen at the blunt response, but Itachi continued. "I will only kiss you, Naruto. It's not the fox that has me taken."

Naruto slumped a bit, but the heat left his body and the immense waves of chakra stopped. Itachi moved his hand up to the side of Naruto's face and cupped his cheek waiting for a moment as if assuring himself the fox had gone back into it's cage. Blue eyes peered up at him submissively, and he smirked. There was his Naruto. He brushed a kiss to his forehead.

"Naruto, don't ask me to kiss you again when you have the fox on the loose. I only want you, never forget that."

Naruto smiled widely and nodded. He was truly happy.

A/N: These are drabbles from the 30_kisses community on live journal. I wrote these quite a while back, but never got around to posting them. They are meant to be a short snippet of a longer story. I hope you enjoy them. EVen though I'm no longer active in the community, I do plan on finishing out the themes.

Also, if you happen to be one of my readers for Marked or Scrap, just know that I have nice Christmas present for you in updates on both in the next couple of weeks. SOrry guys, gotta finish finals first and then They will be posted.