So, I probably should have mentioned this in chapter one but I'm a newb and forgot. This is the only warning/disclaimer that I'll do.

Warning: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. This story is Male/Male, they be homosexuals people! (lol) There will be m-preg in this story. Just a heads up for people that aren't interested in reading about male pregnancy.

Also, this story will have influences from multiple cultures and countries from our world but with a yokai twist. Their technology is modern as well but again, with a yokai twist.

Um, I think that's it. Please read and enjoy! (needs a new catch phrase...)

Lots of love and appreciation to TheBloodyProdigy (who can be found on y-gallery) for her incredible support and advice. Without her this story wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is. She's not even into the Naruto fandom currently and she's still helping me! So, a big round of applause for her.

Also, a big thank you to Alex (My Thought Bubbles). Please check out her stories Stranded, Target, and The Empty City. (All of which I'm a huge fan and can be found on here, )

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{Chapter Three}

"What the fuck kind of hell cart is this?" Sasuke growled as he was jostled for the umpteenth time. The raven haired yokai was uncomfortably squashed into the massive Follow Me basket, or as he was now fondly referring to it in his head, a woven death trap.

"Quit bitching!" Naruto growled right back at the whining raven. It had been bad enough getting that bastard into the basket. Having to listen to him whine all the way back to his house was causing the blond to have doubts. Doubts about whether or not it had been the right thing to save this guy's ass.

Gods knew this wasn't the kitsune's idea of a good time. He'd much rather be at home relaxing in his private outdoor bath, but instead he was stuck listening to this stuck up prick whine. For someone that had been left for dead only to be rescued in the nick of time, Sasuke sure complained a lot, even if he had literally escaped the jaws of death less than an hour ago.

Naruto's inner monologue was disrupted by another string of complaints from Sasuke and unable to take it anymore, the blond snapped. Whirling around with his fangs bared he snarled at the raven. "Shut the fuck up! Sorry, you've had a shitty day but don't take it out on the person that just saved your stuck up ass. Especially when I didn't have to! It would have been easy to just leave you there to rot. So shove your whining up your ass!"

The only person to have ever spoken to him so harshly was his father. Those verbal beat-downs were some of his least favorite memories, since so many of those lectures had ended in actual beatings, due to his father not believing he'd actually been listening to the bile he spewed. No matter how hard he'd tried, Sasuke had always heard every degrading word about his personhood that his father uttered. Regardless of what that man, who laughably considered himself the young prince's father, thought.

Even at his worst Fugaku had never been so crude when informing Sasuke of his displeasure and disappointment in him. Unpleasant memories forcefully swirled around the forefront of his mind, causing Sasuke to responded to the fox with an equal amount of rage.

"How dare you talk to me that way! You filthy, low-born, sorry excuse for a yokai! It's no wonder so many of your kind have been killed if all kitsune are so crude. I'm surprised a moron like you has even managed to live this long!" Sasuke snarled at the blond, his own rather impressive set of fangs bared threateningly at Naruto.

Azure orbs were wide with shock at the other teen's outburst. They narrowed as the blonde's fury mounted until only slivers of blue could be seen. "I swear by all the gods! If you weren't injured I would turn this basket around and dump your ass back on the creek bank! Why did I have to get stuck with some whiny pathetic noble's son!?"

Sasuke snorted as the blond moron shouted that last part to the sky. Gritting his teeth, the raven haired yokai snarled. "Shout that a little louder why don't you? Its not like we have to worry about being attacked by bandits or anything. Oh wait, we do."

"Fuck you very much for that observation, asshole." Naruto grumbled. His voice was still laced with anger but he'd stopped shouting.

"Hn."

It was all the blond got for a reply from the now silently brooding raven. Rolling his eyes at his companion, the kitsune kept striding forward. Making sure to keep an eye out for any suspicious movements, the nostrils of Naruto's small, upturned nose, flared occasionally, in preparation to pick up even the smallest hint of an attacker's scent.

Fortunately, they were able to make the rest of their trip unmolested. Naruto gripped the leash tighter as they traveled across multiple bridges. Bridges always made him feel a tad uneasy due to a childhood incident that occurred when he was eight summers old.

He'd been investigating the aging bridge behind one of the casinos in town. Despite his adopted grandparents many warnings the adventurous blond hadn't listened, and just as the elder yokais' had predicted, Naruto had fallen through the bridge. Luckily the creek beneath the bridge was deep and slow moving, preventing Naruto from sustaining any injuries other than a permanent wariness of bridges.

Babbling brooks and crystal clear creeks gurgled happily as they flowed along their beds, sparkling in the fading sunlight as they coursed past under wooden causeways, and spangling the simple bridges with splotches of reflected light. Rainbows could be seen dancing in the lights adding a whimsical quality to the otherwise dull structures.

Several long minutes passed as the tense silence surrounding the two eased in the waning daylight. Just as the sun was setting and they had almost reached Naruto's house, Sasuke opened his mouth to attempt giving the blond an apology. The kitsune had saved him after all, even if the blond was a moron of the highest order.

Collecting himself, Sasuke fell back on his 'proper' upbringing. He shuddered to think what his tutors would say about his behavior. They'd drilled etiquette into him since he could speak and here he was throwing it out the damn window. He may have run away from his tyrannical family, but that didn't mean he had to act like some low-bred mongrel. His emotions firmly in check, the runaway prince spoke up.

"I suppose you expect me to thank you now. You should already know that I was healing myself and didn't technically need your help. At least I'm stuck in this hellacious basket with someone slightly more tolerable than bandits or rapists." Naruto stared in disbelief at the other yokai. The worst part was that the blond couldn't tell if Sasuke was being serious or mocking him.

"Wow, that was either the worst apology I've ever heard or you're the biggest bastard I've ever met." Expertly groomed ebony brows shot upwards, almost touching an inky hairline. What the hell was this moron's problem? That was the most sincere apology he'd ever given someone.

"Whatever loser just get us to your house in one piece so I can finish healing in peace. Hopefully I won't have to listen to your incessant whining anymore once we get there." Sasuke grumbled, hunkering down in the basket. No matter how the raven moved there were zero 'comfortable' spots in this basket.

"ARGH! You throw the world's biggest bitch fit and now I'm annoying?! You fucking bastard! Gods, you're the most irritating... Don't fall asleep when I'm yelling at you! Dammit! Keep those eyes open so I can tell you how much of an asshole you are!" Sadly for the fuming kitsune, all of his curses fell on deaf ears. Obsidian eyes had already closed as the raven haired yokai drifted back into unconsciousness.

Quiet breathy snores that sounded more like large inhales of breath, could be heard coming from the basket. Sasuke had slumped to the side and his head hung down against a broad chest. A chest Naruto's eyes inadvertently glanced over before heartily approving of it.

'Wait,' Naruto thought suddenly. His steps faltering as he came to a gradual halt in the middle of the road. 'Did I just think that the bastard has a nice chest?' The blond asked himself as he mulled over the question in his mind. When he'd reached a verdict, an ugly scowl marred the yokai's handsome features.

'There is no way I find this asshole attractive.' Naruto confirmed this with a nod of his head, golden locks bobbing with the motion. Any previous admittance of attraction to 'the bastard', as Naruto had now affectionately dubbed Sasuke, were quickly given the rubber stamp of 'Not Approved'. As his denial of said approval was safely filed away, Naruto resumed walking, the setting sun and the sleeping yokai his silent companions.

As pink tinted rays of gold spread across the sky, Naruto came to a realization. Whoever this person sleeping in his basket was, they were going to need bath. Preferably a warm one and... they would need help. While the injuries were rapidly healing, Sasuke was going to be incredibly sore. Regeneration, whether the injury was minor or not, always left residual aches in the place where the yokai had been injured. For the raven, the soreness would include the vast majority of his body.

Which meant Naruto would be playing nursemaid to a hungry, sore, and extremely grumpy yokai. The blond was starting to get the feeling that his vacations were cursed. Maybe he should just become a workaholic?


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{Later that evening}

"Finally, we're here." Naruto sighed as he released the basket's leash. He then bent down to shake Sasuke awake. Groggy onyx eyes looked up into expectant cerulean.

"What?" Sasuke asked irritably. He'd just fallen asleep and now the blond idiot was waking him up. The raven haired yokai was not amused.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation at the other male's perpetual bad temper, Naruto repeated his previous statement. "We're here."

Glaring at the blond as he rolled his eyes, Sasuke demanded. "Here, where?"

"My house or did your little beauty nap cause you to lose your memory?" Naruto asked mockingly. For some reason he really enjoyed getting a rise out of the other yokai. There was something about the other's stuck up attitude that made Naruto want to mess with him; to ruffle his feathers in a manner of speaking.

"What house? All I see is a giant Oni Willow." Sasuke stated, as his midnight gaze scanned the area for anything that could pass as a house.

"Sasuke," The blond began talking slowly, as if the raven were a child, or slow in the head. "The tree is my house. You just can't tell because all of the lights are off."

Scowling, the squashed prince glared at the kitsune. He wiggled around in the basket for a minute before snapping at the other teen. "How the hell was I supposed to know that you live in a damn tree?"

Naruto continued to talk to the increasingly irate yokai like a small child. "Well Sasuke, do you see anything else around here that could possibly be a house?"

Onyx eyes held the promise of a slow painful death for the blond kitsune. A shiver ran down Naruto's back at the intensity of the raven's glare. There was something about that look that... excited him. Not in a 'this guy is fun to mess with way'. More like a warm, tingly, and slightly sweaty kind of way.

"For all I know you could have lived in that giant ass mole hill over there." Sasuke replied with icy sarcasm, nodding his ebony head towards a massive mole hill a few yards to the left of the them and the tree.

"You... you... bastard! Is this how you treat everyone that.."

"Wait," The raven interrupted, holding up a pale hand as well as his battered body allowed. "Don't tell me; the mole kicked you out because there wasn't enough room for all three of you?"

Now Naruto was confused. "All three of us?"

"Yes, the three of you." Sasuke repeated slowly rolling his eyes at the blond. "You, the mole, and your dumbass-ery."

"Shut the hell up! Gods, what did I do deserve this?" Naruto shouted at the evening sky, his golden ears popping into existence and laying flat against his head. Naruto's six tails were swaying behind him and doing their best impression of a bottlebrush.

Somehow during their exchange the raven found himself enjoying the blonde's reactions. There was something almost adorable about the way he got so worked up and with such little provocation too. Snapping his fingers Sasuke added, "Moles are blind so maybe he wouldn't evict you. Not seeing your face would probably cut down on the amount of your overall idiocy. Damn, lucky blind bastard."

Now the kitsune was pissed. His face turned a bright crimson tinged with purple as he screeched. "Don't talk about Schnitzel like that! He hates that he's blind!"

"Who's Schnitzel?" The stunned raven haired yokai inquired.

"The mole that lives in that mole hill over there!" Naruto shouted gesturing towards the same hill Sasuke had pointed out earlier. It was several long moments before the other yokai responded.

"Is running his mouth the only thing a moron like you is good for?" Sasuke asked with sarcastic curiosity. The raven continued with, "Oh, for the record I have excellent night vision . So I can see your house just fine. I simply assumed no self respecting yokai would ever live in a tree." He sneered, his glare increasing in intensity with each word he spoke.

A steady wave of pleasant shivers were running down the blonde's back now. Naruto's knees felt wobbly and his face was warm. The blond had no doubt that a light blush was spreading across his cheeks. This time it was Naruto's turn to be un-amused. What the hell was happening to him? Why was he having such a wanton reaction to Sasuke's voice and glare?

"Tch," He replied breaking eye contact with the other yokai. Until he figured out why his body was behaving so lewdly, it was best to avoid confrontations with the other yokai. "Why don't you actually look at my house before you complain about it you bastard."

"Fine, ... moron."

Holding back an angry retort, Naruto settled for casting an icy glare at the raven haired bastard. His anger faded as he watched onyx eyes examine his home, the rage filled depths softening into startled curiously, as if the other male's interest was a shock even to himself. Honestly, the blond was thrilled about the attention his house was receiving. Despite the oddity of it being a tree, the kitsune took great pride in his home.

TBC