My god, this took forever! I've been trying to fit it in through my summer work. I finally just took off all Saturday and typed. So, here it is: my Saturday concoction.
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"Run anywhere you want, little kitten. You'll never escape me. You'll only hurt the people around you."
The words ricocheted through Naruto's mind as he slept. Somewhere deep in his subconscious thoughts, an alarm went off in his head. Kyuu awoke, but oddly, she couldn't remember why she had felt the need to.
'Kit.'
Naruto didn't answer. He was still fast asleep.
Kyuubi sighed, but an idea quickly came to her mind.
'Well… since you're tired… and I'm not… maybe I should take over for now? What's that you say?' Kyuu asked, listening to Naruto's content snoring, 'You think it's a good idea, too? Okay!'
After a moment, Naruto's left arm lurched into the air. His right arm followed suit. Next, his legs tumbled to the ground.
'This is harder than it looks…'
Kyuu stumbled to her feet and looked around, getting used to the view. She slowly stepped forward, throwing her arms out for balance. When she didn't immediately fall down, Kyuu took another step.
By the time she'd made it to the door, sweat was dripping down her neck. She rested against the wooden door and listened for any movement behind it. Suddenly, her head swung forward into the door.
She swore loudly.
"What the hell, Naruto?"
She could feel the boy fighting her as he became more awake.
'Don't you 'what the hell' me, Kyuu! What are you doing?' he screamed into her mind. Kyuu winced.
"Oh, come on! I haven't been out it ages. It's not like I was gonna do something indecent!"
Kyuu's right hand jerked forward and caught her in the face. A string of profanities followed the slap. Kyuu chuckled. Naruto hadn't known she couldn't feel the pain. He was only slapping himself regardless of whether he had control of his body or not.
"You should be nice to people that have total control of you, Kit. Or they might take advantage of it."
Naruto screamed louder, but Kyuu wasn't paying attention anymore. The smell of cinnamon had caught her attention. It was coming from the main hall. She followed it downstairs into the kitchen.
The kid Naruto had met yesterday was there. He was whisking something in a large bowl. Kyuu watched as he poured the yellow liquid into a big frying pan, grabbing a spatula from the counter.
"You don't have to stand there. Come on in, Naruto," Neji yelled over the sizzling eggs. He turned around to call Naruto over. "Breakfast is almost—"
When the boy dropped the spatula, Kyuu's eyes narrowed. There was no way this… kid could tell he wasn't Naruto. Nothing on the outside of the body ever changed when she took over someone.
"What's wrong, Neji?"
"…your neck."
Kyuu's hand flew up to her neck. The crusted blood crumbled under her touch.
The wound was fresh.
"Shit…" she whispered. There was no way Naruto had done that when he'd slapped her.
Kyuu watched as Neji ran from the room, returning moments later with a first aid kit. He popped open the case and pulled out an alcohol swab, gauze pads, and some kind of tape. Neji pushed Kyuu into a seat.
"Take off your shirt."
Kyuu looked at the cut from the corner of her eye. It went under the collar.
"I-I can do this myself, Neji."
The brunette didn't seem to hear or care about what Kyuu said. He reached for the hem of Naruto's black shirt and lifted it over Kyuu's head before she could react.
Kyuu felt the cool tips of his fingers glide over her neck as he examined the cut. Neji even traced the healing wound he'd noticed back at Naruto's house, his left hand reaching for the alcohol swabs behind him.
At some point, the butler had managed to step into the kitchen without Kyuu noticing. He stirred the food on the stove and continued to prepare the rest of the meal.
"All right, it's done," Neji announced, patting Kyuu's shoulder lightly, "Now, it's time for breakfast."
'Okay, Kit. I've had my fun. You can come out now.'
'…'
'Kit, are you mad at me? I'm sorry. I was just having a little fun.'
'…You know I didn't cause that cut.'
'…Yeah, I know.'
'He's watching us, Kyuu.'
'Not now. I don't feel his presence.'
'We're putting these people in danger. We should leave.'
'If we do, he'll attack you, Kit.'
'I—'
'Don't worry about it for now. I'll figure it out. Just eat your breakfast, okay?'
Naruto's body stiffened as his consciousness filled the cerulean eyes. He felt the butler and Neji watching him. How long had he been spaced out? They probably thought he was insane by now.
"Naruto?"
"… yeah?"
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I guess I zoned out for a second. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Come on. Let's eat."
Naruto followed him to the adjacent room where the butler had prepared two spaces for them. The table was a lot smaller than the one yesterday. It was nice to sit closer to someone anyway. Or at least, the idea of it was.
Both boys ate silently across from each other. Neither of them wanted to be the first to speak. They knew what the topic would be.
Neji decided to go first.
"Naruto… I know we just met, and this is very forward of me to ask, but… I noticed you have a lot of scars. How did you get them?"
Naruto stuffed a pile of scrambled eggs and French toast into his mouth. He couldn't tell Neji. Whether or not Itachi was watching him now, he couldn't say it.
"I know you don't want to answer the question. You don't have to. It's just… most of them look like they weren't treated properly…"
Neji was looking at him, his opaque eyes glazed with worry. Naruto stared down at his plate, sighing heavily. There was no way around this if they were going to be friends. But would Neji even want to be friends if he knew? Naruto decided to risk it.
"…most of them weren't."
"Wh- why would you let them go untreated? Those were serious wounds."
"It's expensive to go to the hospital every time it happens."
"It? What's it?"
Naruto didn't answer at first. He stood up and took his empty plate to the kitchen. Neji didn't follow him.
"The attacks… that's what it is."
Neji watched him silently. Naruto was leaning across the counter now, staring at him, waiting for some kind of reaction.
Waiting for Neji to reject him.
"Three… sometimes four days a week, a man breaks into my apartment. He causes those wounds. The ones on my chest that you saw… aren't as bad as the ones on my legs."
Neji opened his mouth to speak but couldn't form any words. He could only listen to Naruto as he spoke.
"He thinks it's funny when I struggle… because no matter how hard I try, I can't fight him off."
"H…How long?" Neji croaked.
"Years…" Naruto whispered, letting out a low, hysterical chuckle. So many times I've lost count." He felt the first of hot tears roll down his pale cheek.
He heard the chair scrape against the floor and the clatter as Neji put his plate in the sink.
"…Does Iruka know?" Neji asked hesitantly.
Naruto wiped away the tears and turned around, suddenly frantic.
"Hell no!" he exclaimed. "And… y-you better not tell him! It's bad enough that I told you. I— don't… please don't tell him. He's the first friend I ever made. I don't want to lose that."
Neji rushed to his side, his hand reaching out for Naruto's good shoulder.
"Naruto… I won't tell him, but you know Iruka's not like that. He'd only be worried about you. No one in their right mind would stop being friends with you because of that. If anything, they'd be closer friends."
Naruto couldn't stop the tears anymore. They fell silently, blurring his sight.
"Don't you get it? You're new, but you're not stupid. You were in class yesterday. Didn't you see it? Those looks? Everyone hates me. They'd only laugh at me more if they found out that I'm so weak!"
"Don't you get it, Naruto? You aren't weak. Those idiots in class are ignorant pieces of shit! What they say means nothing! Nothing, Naruto, and I mean nothing, justifies what that bastard did to you."
"Yeah?" Naruto asked sarcastically. "Well, that's not what everyone seems to think." He felt the pent up anger growing within him, fusing with the new irritation he felt towards himself for saying anything about the damn cuts in the first place. Now, he would surely lose his new friend. "I know how loud I scream. Anyone on my floor could hear me, but no one comes to help. They just move to a different apartment. They don't care! No one cares about a monster. No one but stupid people."
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Neji replied, "Then I must be a pretty stupid person, huh?"
Naruto felt the words sink in and began shaking his head slowly.
"You just don't get it…"
"Then explain it to me, Naruto."
"You want me to explain it to you? Fine," Naruto snapped. "If you get close to me, you. will. die. Neji. He will kill you. So please just leave it—"
"You know, back where I used to live… back in my hometown, I had a really close friend. Her name was TenTen. We knew each other from when we were little."
Naruto almost asked what the hell this had to with their argument, but something about Neji's tone told him to shut up. He watched the brunette nervously lean against the counter and continue.
"She… the reason I moved here… is because she's dead. Her… father killed her."
Naruto heard Kyuu gasp quietly.
"He was a drunk. I knew that, but… she never told me that he beat her. I was stupid not to realize it. I blamed myself for it, always wondering if I had picked up on it sooner… would she still be alive? She was in so much pain, but she never told me. She never showed it. 'Why?' I asked myself. Why couldn't she tell me? I would have helped her. She was like family to me. Why didn't she—"
Neji's words broke off, his eyes watering. Naruto didn't even realize he was crying anymore.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I said all of that… I'm so—"
Neji's shaking hand patted him softly on the head. He pulled Naruto into a tight hug, still patting the boy's head.
"Come live with me," the boy said.
Though he couldn't muster any true anger anymore, Naruto pushed away from Neji immediately.
"D-didn't you hear what I said? He'll kill you."
"Let him try."
Naruto backed further away from the boy. He trembled with every step, unsure of what he could say to get through Neji's thick head.
"He will kill you. Don't you understand? You aren't strong enough. No one is. He'll kill you... he'll kill you…"
Neji stepped forward. He reached out to Naruto and grabbed his arm.
"Let him try."
Naruto couldn't take it. He screamed, "Stop acting tough, Neji! This isn't a game! He can kill you. No, he will kill you. You'll die."
Tears spilled from his cheeks again. He felt someone's voice whisper against his ear and realized Neji was holding him again, rubbing his back softly.
This time, Naruto didn't resist. He cried hard into Neji's shoulder, his body shaking with sobs and pain he didn't know he could still feel. And Neji held him tightly, letting a few of his own tears fall.
"Let him try, Naruto. Let him try."
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The drunken bar roared along with the karaoke song playing "Sweet Home Alabama," distracting any wandering eyes from the two men sitting at the bar.
"Hey, don't you think you're being too lenient with your toy?"
"Nah, it'll be more fun if he becomes friends with that little brat. I can't wait to see how he reacts when I kill his new little friend."
"…you are truly evil, Itachi."
The two men chuckled quietly, careful not to attract unwanted attention from the drunken fools around them.
"Don't flatter me. It'll go straight to my head, Kisame."
Itachi nodded towards the bartender to refill their drinks. When she'd gone to talk to another customer, he whispered something to Kisame.
Both men laughed even harder before Kisame spoke.
"Deal. Brunettes are my type anyway."
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…So? What'd ya' think? Good or bad? You tell me! Review~
Shuichi