A/N– ok so finals are done I have entered whats called senior week, where I live on campus with all the other graduating seniors with no classes until graduation. The down side it that they close the dinning halls so we have to feed our selves.

I climbed a building while drunk and then had a beer and a cigar on the roof!

Summary-Naruto is not like everyone thinks he is, he hides his true self from everybody. The few who know about the other him know very little. When various events force Naruto to spend time with his team mates in situations outside of the norm he finds it hard to keep up the act.

Parings-SasuNaru, some KakaIru others not decided.

Rating- very much an R rated fic… or M… guess that's what it is now… -- bah

Warning- sexual situations, foul language, self mutilation, attempted suicide, a very OOC Sasuke. And bitchy Sakura! –– well she had gotten better in resent chapters.

Spoilers- for anyone who is not up to date on the manga –– that's sorta true now.

Disclaimer– I just cant get over the fact that I am graduating in a week…

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Red Walkways

Chapter Sixteen

His Boys

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Naruto couldn't watch. The sounds coming from the devastated Kyuubi were already ripping him apart. He turned to look at Sasuke who wasn't doing much better then himself.

Sasuke looked like he was reliving the death of his parents. Remembering what it was like to hold them and know that they weren't present, only their bodies. He knew that in only a couple hours Kyuubi would be experiencing the same thing. He caught Naruto looking at him out of the corner of his eye and turned to face him.

"Is there really nothing we can do?"

Naruto's eyes became glassy, he wanted nothing more than to rap his arms around Kyuubi and tell him that there was a way to save his raven. He shook his head slowly.

"no, even if Sakura were here it wouldn't help. His body is to weak, any chakura we give him would run strait through him…I can feel him shutting down."

Kyuubi let out a low, long whine. His body hunched over the bird in his arms, the top of his head almost touching the stone floor. Karasu was completely covered by Kyuubi but his tail feathers, dull and shaded red. Kyuubi took a shuttering breath, interrupted by small sobs. This couldn't be happening. He didn't just fail his raven all those years ago; he continued to fail him every moment he lived. Every second he was breaking a promise, every breath he took was in vein. Now he would fail for the final time. He sank lower onto the ground, his head touching down with a dull thud, and then there was silence.

Sasuke watched Naruto close his eyes in pain, a tear slipping out. It was like he was feeling what Kyuubi was, and then he realized there was a good chance that was actually happening. Sasuke looked up when the crying stopped, Kyuubi was broken, and somehow this silent resignation was the more painful than the mourning whines from before. The air became heavy. Naruto felt a need he thought he had rid himself of, we wanted something sharp…

Sasuke thought about what Naruto had said, Karasu's body was to weak to hold onto the chakura. If only there was a way to put the chakura back into the healer so they could do it again instead of it dissipating like it would. It would be like a …

"cycle…"

Naruto's head shot up, Sasuke jumped locking eyes with the startle blond.

"a cycle…" Naruto started to cry, "a cycle!"

Kyuubi's head lifted enough to gaze at his bond mate from under his fringe. It wasn't the outburst of noise that caught his attention; it was the small spark of hope that brought tears to Naruto.

Sasuke was confused… he watched Naruto scramble over to his pack and start ripping it apart, manga and food rations flying everywhere. When he emerged he was holding a small note book, on the cover in black marker was written BOOK # 10. Naruto frantically flipped through the pages of the note book, the dry flapping of the pages echoed through the cave like a flock of birds taking flight, Karasu salvation.

"THIS!" Naruto slammed the book to the ground dramatically pointing his figure, pressing it into the stone floor.

Sasuke leaned over to read the page."I have never seen anything like this."

"With this I can create a controlled cycle of chakura between one being and another!"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, "I have never seen anything like this before…"

Naruto gave a slight smile, "actually you have…"

Kyuubi rushed as carefully as he could over to the boys making sure not to injure his raven.

"I will be the other being!"

Naruto looked down at the worn pages, "you can't…"

Kyuubi's eyes flashed "why not!?"

Naruto could feel a flood of need rush through him from the fox, need for Karasu to be ok, and need to fix his mistakes and clean up his mess.

Naruto put his hand to his stomach and took a deep breath letting it out slowly…

"the reason is because you already have a cycle." He looked at Sasuke, "you have seen this before, it's the bond I made by altering the 4th seal, you are the only one here who can do this Sasuke."

Sasuke felt ice crawl down his spine, "wouldn't making the seal kill you?"

Naruto shook his head "making the seal the fourth did might even if I'm not chakura drained like he was but I won't be making the same seal. I think I can devise a makeshift ritual to directly create the bond me and Kyuubi have without having to make the real seal first."

Immediately upon reassurance of Naruto's safety Sasuke felt he knew what to do, he nodded.

"I'll do it."

Kyuubi let out a long breath, "I take back every bad thing I ever said about you kid…"

Naruto felt a smile pull a his lips but he suppressed it, this wasn't the right time to be smiling.

"Ok first I need something to write on the ground with."

Sasuke and Kyuubi scanned the cave floor for a rock that would leave marks. Every once in a while one would pick up a rock and scrap it on the ground. Finally Sasuke held one out.

"This one will work."

Naruto took it with a nod. He turned to the cave floor and started to mentally plan the seal he needed to draw in the confined space he had to work with. He sat still for over ten minutes, Sasuke and Kyuubi watched with without breathing, then Naruto started to move quickly across the floor. His arm swinging this way and that leaving complicated marks on the floor. Kyuubi seemed unsurprised but Sasuke couldn't believe what he was seeing. Some of these symbol formulas were more complicated then anything he had ever seen a ninja use. He knew logically that Naruto was smart but he had never seen him in action. He had only seen the books and scrolls that he supposedly wrote or read and understood.

Light gray on granite floors flowed out of the tan hand like water out of a faucet, spilling across the ground; creating a puddle of knowledge that would be the elixir of life. Narutos feet slid from stance to stance low to the ground like silk as he spilled his work across the stone.

"Ok"

All eyes snapped to attention.

Narutos voice was cracked, something in the pit of his stomach told him this was leading to something bigger then anything he had been a part of… even Kyuubi himself. Good or bad it was to late now, as the last stream of gray met the stone floor Naruto committed everything he had to this.

"Sasuke I need you in the middle, just sit cross legged."

Sasuke got to his feet with a cat like slink that may have been covering his nervousness and moved to the middle of the small pond of symbols.

"Ok now I need Karasu…" Naruto moved over to his fox friend and held out his arms. Kyuubi for just a moment seemed like he was going to refuse but shifted to smoothly shift his love from his arms to his best friends. He should tell Naruto that… he is the best friend Kyuubi has ever had in all his long years on this planet… he should let the boy know…

Naruto took the weight of the dying bird. Cool in his arms like a bag of four, he might be to late…. Naruto kept his thoughts to himself.

Sasuke accepted the weight next as Naruto slid Karasu into his lap, Sasuke wasn't sure how this was going to work since he had no idea how this process was to happen and didn't have time to learn. This suddenly there was a warmth behind him that made the cool weight of the raven only that much more apparent on his legs.

"Naruto what are you doing?"

"I'm being the medium… what does it look like I'm doing?"

Sasuke suddenly understood, there was the sealed, the vesicle, and the medium… like the fourth was for Naruto and Kyuubi… the most dangerous part.

Sasuke almost jumped when he felt arms go around him, strong arms held him for a moment and Narutos voice whispered in his ear.

"Its all going to be ok…" cracked as before the reassurance was less then convincing, but something in Sasuke's gut told him the reason for that shaking tone wasn't what he thought.

Then Narutos arms moved, he put Sasuke's right hand on the cool silky feathered body.

"Keep that there"

Then Naruto put his own left hand on the birds body and took Sasuke's left hand in his right.

"Now we use our free hands to create the seals while our opposite hands create the bond, I will say the seals out loud before we do them so don't worry about not knowing the pattern."

Sasuke nodded he felt very warm, so very warm with Narutos chest flat against his back, his arms against Sasuke's, hand in hand.

"Ok lets begin…"

The warm breath against Sasuke's ear made all the blood rush where the blush wouldn't be seen. He managed to nod.

"It won't hurt for you at all I promise."

"Tori, Usagi, Tora, Uma…"

It was awkward at first but soon became natural for the two hands to make one symbol. Kyuubi watched the progression with a numb heart and a growing sense of dread as the room grew colder and colder.

Sasuke felt himself and Naruto growing very warm, not their skin but something deep inside… was becoming an inferno.

"Ryuu, Uma, Tori, Tora…"

Then like a cool knife gliding over his skin but not pressing down, a feeling beyond anything Sasuke ever knew came over him. And to his embracement he began to grow hard.

"Tori, Usagi, Tora, Uma…"

Naruto's voice became strained and scratchy as the knife disregarded his skin and pressed into him creating a pain greater then when he released the Kyuubi.

Sasuke felt like every word from Naruto's mouth was a thrust forward and every bit of their skin that touch creating the seals was a pull back to thrust again.

"Ryuu, Uma, Tori, Tora…"

The inferno in himself grew along with the one behind him as the blond chanted. Naruto felt like he was going to die if the pain didn't stop, no… he was sure of it. He pushed a bit more knowing he was close to the end.

"Tora, Ryuu, Uma…"

Suddenly Naruto's hand grabbed Sasuke's ending the seals and pressed it down on Karasu where his was only moments ago. Both Sasuke's hands on the bird left Narutos free, he brought them together to use his own seal… he yelled out with the last of his strength.

"KITSUNE!"

Naruto felt like liquid pain was being pumped trough him and was loosing his grip on reality fast.

Sasuke was shocked still as Narutos hands came apart from the seal and violently slid under his shirt to press into his gut. The palms that touched his skin were like molten steel, his own hand felt like they were on fire, into his hands a force swept through, and from Narutos hands it plunged out into his abdomen.

Then Sasuke was filled with someone he didn't know and someone he knew was Naruto, the feeling that came over him brought him to the edge and coldly pushed him over bringing him to a climax he never knew could be possible. Then the presence of Naruto left him and the foreign one stayed with him burning. Behind him all at once Narutos inferno was extinguished and a cold swept through him.

Kyuubi watched the show of lights and chanting with a fixed expression, but when the cold in the room was very suddenly replaced with warmth and through the bond he felt the cold that was around him moments before, he knew that's something was wrong. Quickly he was on his feet, Naruto was sliding away from Sasuke who was turning to catch the now very cool body before it hit the floor.

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke's voice cut through to Kyuubi's bones and he stopped his rush to watch pale arms rap around his Kit… the Uchiha really does love Naruto… the way I love Karasu.

"Kyuubi!"

The demon met panicked eyes…

"He's… cold… what do I do?"

Kyuubi went back into action and was by his bond mates side, he reached out and felt the cool skin for himself. He felt dead but through the bond came a faint beating. That was the only thing holding Kyuubi together, Sasuke didn't have that knowledge…

"Don't worry he's alive I think he just needs chakura and rest." Kyuubi let his chakura flow through the bond, Naruto had used a fair bit of his portion for the seal but the boy had used almost all of his own. Kyuubi felt drained but much more light hearted once the blond was stable.

Sasuke also seemed to calm once warmth started to come back to Narutos skin…

Suddenly Kyuubi looked left, then right, then up and down…

"Wheres Karasu?"

Sasuke suddenly realized he no longer had the bird, where Karasu was before Naruto's head was resting now. Then he felt it, like a second heart beat in his gut that was slowly growing stronger. He looked up to meet Kyuubi's eyes.

"Don't worry, your raven is here" Sasuke pressed his hand into his stomach, "and he doing OK, he getting stronger… and I seem to be becoming very ti..r..e….d."

Kyuubi reached out and caught the Uchiha before his head hit the stone floor. He shifted so both his boy head were on his lap. Sasuke shifted and looked up at Kyuubi with half lidded eyes.

"I'm just going to…rest…for…a…b..i..t…k?"

Kyuubi nodded lightly with a slight smile, then as the boys eyes closed he caught sight of it. Like Naruto had something of Kyuubi's, his whisker marks, Sasuke now has something of Karasu's. In his black eyes half way between the edge of his iris and the edge of his pupil a gray right now sat, the inverse of the ravens black ring in his gray eyes.

Kyuubi readjusted and scooted back against the wall, he was worn out too for all this drama. He lest his eyes slowly shift closed, comforted by the warm weight of his boys… all three of them.

A/N– kinda shirt but it felt like the end of this chapter to me. Next chapter there will be more of whats going on with the other characters…I just didn't want to have to cut into this lovely part of the story to let you know hoe the other were doing, I felt like it would break the trance like flow.

I HAVE A JOB NOW AT VERSION WIRELESS!!! WOOOT its 27,000 dollars a year!