Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
It's a sad story…Sooooooo during a long weekend where I went home, I was practically finished with writing this chapter—just a couple of paragraphs to go! Then I left my computer so I could make myself some lunch since REAL food tastes soooo much better than cafeteria food. An hour later, I go back to my computer to find it dead. I think it's just a battery thing so I re-plug in the chord and try to turn it on when it beeps at me. Turns out, my laptop was DEAD dead =(. Apparently the motherboard died. We buy a new laptop and they offer a data transfer, and I think it'll be nbg; I'd just have to re-write a page or so. But no. Apparently, my hard-drive died too so no data was salvageable. No homework, pictures, notes, games, or stories were able to be transferred.
So that is my explanation for being so late.
Anyhoo, onwards with chapter 3!
Sasuke would never admit that he was nervous.
It was six days after he had first seen Naruto in the waterfall clearing and he had been visiting him every day after training.
Like the first day, the weather was terrible; foggy with sporadic rain—Kabuto had mentioned to Orochimaru that there was a very large storm approaching. And just like the first day, and the day afterwards, Naruto had attacked Sasuke.
This beast-like Naruto never got the chance to land an attack on Sasuke, though. The Uchiha had always positioned himself so that he could quickly escape to a nearby tree, but there has been more than one too close of a call for comfort…
But, while on his way to see Naruto again after training, Sasuke refused to admit that he was nervous. His heart rate was faster than usual merely because he had recently finished training with all of Orochimaru's experiments…over a half hour ago…
He had no reason to be nervous! Much less frightened! Uchihas do not DO 'nervous' or 'fear'. Even if that weren't true, Sasuke had come prepared today.
Last night, during dinner while Orochimaru's pet Kabuto was describing the weather patterns for the upcoming storm, Sasuke had considered many things about the beast-like Naruto he had been visiting daily.
He considered many things about his observations, like how the Kyuubi's overwhelming demonic chakra always ignored or simply never registered Sasuke's comparatively weak—he'd only admit this in his head and in comparison to a true demon's chakra—chakra until Sasuke stepped too close into the waterfall clearing that Naruto resided in. And even then he could feel that Kyuubi's chakra never registered him as a threat but as food or at most an annoyance!
He also considered how Naruto had appeared. His clothes were ripped in various and sporadic places, and splattered with dried blood; none of it his own, Sasuke observed, but from the fish he had managed to fish out from the small lake at the end of the waterfall that Naruto had eaten raw and wriggling. Naruto's nails were elongated into claws and his canine teeth had elongated into fangs that he would bare at Sasuke between growls. His eyes were red, slitted, and animalistic; there was none of Sasuke's crus—FORMER TEAMMATE in those eyes.
But above all, Sasuke had considered how Naruto had acted; they had developed a sort of routine over the past six days. First, Sasuke would enter the clearing and Naruto would completely ignore him. Then, Sasuke would approach the bush Naruto would hide or rest in—Sasuke did know what Naruto did in the bush other than stay out of sight—and Naruto would burst out and charge at Sasuke. Sasuke would escape, sometimes narrowly, and Naruto would claw at the trees or the rocks behind the waterfall while growling and bearing his fangs. Sasuke would stay high out of reach and Naruto would get bored eventually and go to the small lake to fish or leave the clearing to return with a small bird or other baby animal to eat, or sometimes coming back with nothing at all. Then Sasuke would leave before having to see his usurato—SEE NARUTO eat an animal raw or leave before his prolonged absence became suspicious.
Throughout all that, Sasuke noticed that Naruto had seemed perpetually hungry.
So during dinner—steak—Sasuke had scavenged away his meal as well as another steak that Kabuto had prepared. He was grateful that Orochimaru's experiments had a penchant for meat so that Kabuto regularly, if not daily, prepared meaty meals.
And today before training had started, Sasuke had gone over to the edge of the forest to place his Katana down so he could train in hand-to-hand (or extra limb, tentacle, whatever) without the use of weapons on his part. Orochimaru and Kabuto had seen this and had not commented other than the pet whisper something to the snake.
What they did not see was that Sasuke had also placed a bag with his meat in the shrubbery near his Katana, hidden from everyone else.
The smell had immediately gotten the attention of the experiments who had started to swarm to Sasuke for the bag not only contained the steak from the night before but also some pieces of bacon from breakfast.
Not that that mattered. Sasuke had beaten them without any real effort, like usual.
He had been able to leave after training without incident and without suspicion since it was his ritual. It was, however, harder to see his way without his Sharingan because the apparently fast-approaching storm had caused the fog to thicken.
But he was getting closer to the waterfall clearing. Even without his Sharingan he could tell.
He automatically tightened his grip on the bag he was holding—ONLY because he didn't want to drop it in the mist…no other reason.
Sasuke saw some of the trees that borderline the clearing and he felt his heart rate accelerate…because his body was preparing itself to pump chakra through itself to jump up through the trees.
He took a breath and continued forward into the clearing. He was mindful of his position so that he could find a dry spot on the tree next to him for when Naruto would charge at him if today was like the previous days since seeing him. Finding a dry spot was harder than before, though, because of the sporadic rain during the day.
He could not see Naruto, though that was normal was Naruto usually hid or rested or whatever in his bush, hidden from sight, by the time that Sasuke would finish with training and visit him.
Taking a deep breath, he reached into the bag and grabbed a piece of bacon from breakfast and threw it at the bush, much like he would with a shurikan.
Immediately Naruto burst out of the bush and charged at Sasuke, easily avoiding the thrown bacon.
Expecting this reaction, Sasuke had pumped chakra through his legs to boost his muscles so he could reach the dry spot and jumped as soon as Naruto burst out of the leaves.
Sasuke reached the tree, but under calculated just how slippery the residual water from the frequent spouts of rain could be and he slipped.
He could see Naruto's demonic eyes follow his movements and Sasuke could also see Naruto's body prepare to jump to intercept Sasuke's fall.
Unconsciously activating his Sharingan, Sasuke reached into the pouch much like he would with his holster and grabbed another slice of bacon.
When his fingers gripped the piece of meat, Sasuke threw it at Naruto.
As expected, Naruto leapt out of the way of the bacon as if it was a shuriken or another weapon.
Sasuke used the time Naruto spent dodging the harmless meat to find his footing and to find himself a dry spot underneath a particularly large branch that was rather high up the tree.
Looking down, Sasuke had to focus his Sharingan so he could see the Naruto through the fog.
He saw Naruto glaring up at him and baring his fangs at Sasuke.
Naruto looked just as beastlike as yesterday and the days before that. His hairs were standing on end and his clothes were still ragged and torn. His overall demeanor screamed wild beast.
Sasuke saw Naruto start to pace around the tree Sasuke was in and silently urging him to find the bacon in the hopes that he could feed Naruto the food in his pouch. As much as he hated considering his crus—FORMER TEAMMATE as an animal, he knew that Naruto's mind was not entirely his anymore.
What he didn't know, though, was what WAS going on through Naruto's mind! He was acting much like an animal would, and his outward appearance was almost exactly like when Naruto had fought him in the Valley of the End, just without that strange chakra cloak; or Kyuubi's chakra as he recently learned.
As Sasuke watched Naruto pace around the tree, he wondered if Naruto's mind was really the Kyuubi's now, and if so, why wasn't he hell-bent on destruction like all the stories he had heard of the Kyuubi as a child?
He remembered when he had used his Sharingan to scan Naruto's chakra on the second day that he had seen him and how even though the majority of the chakra that was being emitted from Naruto's body was overwhelmingly demonic, there was still a sliver of Naruto's own chakra.
Did that mean that Naruto was still in there? Was the happy-go-lucky and cut—KIND Naruto from his memories keeping the demon from rampaging by keeping Kyuubi to its basic animal instincts?
If only there was a way for him to somehow know what was happening in Naruto's mind!
His thoughts were put to a halt when Naruto started to claw at the tree Sasuke was in.
Sasuke grabbed another slice of bacon. This time, instead of throwing it at Naruto, he simply dropped it so it would land next to the animal.
As the meat fell, Naruto jumped aside to dodge it again.
Naruto looked at the meaty 'weapon' and glared at Sasuke again as he bared his fangs once more.
Sasuke held his gaze until Naruto decided to investigate the fallen bacon again.
Naruto circled the bacon, walking on all fours. After circling it twice, he bent down so that his chin was just above the ground and Sasuke pointedly focused on the upper half of Naruto's bent body.
Sasuke watched as Naruto sniffed the piece of bacon and smirked to himself as he saw Naruto's red eyes light up once the appealing scent reached his nose.
Naruto then poked it with his nose in an adorabl—ANIMALISTIC fashion, immediately jumping back as if expecting the bacon to explode or something.
The blonde then bent back down and crawled back towards the bacon. It was very cut—BEASTLIKE.
After sniffing the bacon again, Naruto's tongue slipped out through his fangs and Sasuke saw that it was salivating. Then Naruto gobbled up the bacon in one bite.
Naruto sat with his legs bent to the side and his arms extended in front of him while he chewed on the meat.
He then licked his lips and bent down to investigate the area where the bacon previously was. Upon thoroughly sniffing the area, he saw that there was no more bacon there he sat back up and began to try to lick his nose from when he had poked it.
Smiling slightly at how adorab—ANIMALISTIC the whole thing was, Sasuke grabbed another piece of bacon and tossed it so that it would land in front of another piece of bacon he had thrown earlier.
Naruto noticed it as it fell to the ground and immediately tensed into a crouching position and jumped away as it fell closer to the ground.
When it landed on the ground, Naruto looked between it and Sasuke; eyeing the meat with suspicion and glaring at Sasuke who did not dare jump to a lower branch just yet.
Naruto started crawling slowly towards the bacon, but constantly stopping to glare at Sasuke and bare his fangs intimidatingly. When Sasuke shifted his legs, Naruto turned around and growled at him until Sasuke kept still for a few minutes.
Then Naruto resumed crawling back to the piece of bacon that had just been thrown. He circled it twice, just like he did with the other piece of bacon, before bending over again so his chin was almost touching the ground.
He sniffed the bacon slice again and his tongue stuck out once more as he salivated. Sasuke then saw Naruto poke the bacon with his nose in his adorab—ANIMALISTIC way before eating it.
Naruto then sniffed the area again. His eyes lit up when he caught the scent of the other bacon piece Sasuke had thrown the last piece close to and hurried over to the meat.
Sasuke took the opportunity to jump to a lower branch and be able to see Naruto easier through the fog when said blonde's attention was aimed at the meat rather than himself.
Once again, Naruto circled around the bacon twice before bending over to sniff at it and salivate at the succulent scent. Sasuke then saw him poke the bacon cutel—IN A BEASTLIKE WAY before he gobbled it up in one bite.
Sasuke smirked to himself when he saw Naruto sit and chew. If he had a tail, Sasuke was sure that it would be wagging happily.
Sasuke's smirk grew as he realized that this was the calmest and happiest he had seen Naruto while in this wild beastlike state. He was sure that now Naruto had seen him throw the bacon, then he would realize that Sasuke was—or at least used to be—his friend if not his best friend.
He definitely preferred Naruto in his regular, human state, but he was not against the idea of this Naruto cuddling up to him…purring when Sasuke rubbed his belly…nuzzling against him…
No, he was not against that in the least.
With this in mind, Sasuke jumped down from the branches to on the ground in front of the tree he was just previously on. It was still rather foggy so he kept his Sharingan activated.
But as soon as he landed on the ground, Naruto tensed and whipped around, facing him in a crouching position.
Naruto's red, demonic eyes were set on him as he growled threateningly, reminding Sasuke that Naruto currently had the mind of a wild beast.
Sasuke would never admit that he froze when those eyes were set on him, because Uchihas do not do 'fear'.
But they do understand self-preservation, so he understood that he needed to do something fast when Naruto started to charge at him.
Sasuke reached into his bag and grabbed the smaller of the two steaks he had and threw it at Naruto.
Naruto dodged the projectile, but when he did not recognize what had been thrown at him, Sasuke could see that Naruto assumed that it was a weapon and started to charge at him again.
Sasuke quickly reached into his bag and grabbed the last piece of bacon he had and tossed it at Naruto so that it would land in front of him.
As expected, Naruto dodged it, but the scent of the bacon made him stop in his tracks completely and turn his attention towards the bacon rather than the Uchiha.
Naruto's red eyes darted between the piece of bacon and Sasuke, who kept completely still; not even daring to blink as he kept eye contact with the animal in front of him.
Still glaring distrustfully, Naruto walked on all fours closer to the tantalizing bacon strip, but keeping eye contact with Sasuke who had deactivated his Sharingan in case Naruto thought that was threatening.
And it worked, or at least it seemed to as Naruto turned his full attention to circling around the bacon twice.
Red eyes glanced at Sasuke before returning to the bacon strip as Naruto sniffed it. Then he poked the bacon with his adorab—ANIMALISTIC nose before eating it.
After he chewed it—while keeping eye contact with Sasuke—Naruto began sniffing the area in case there was more bacon.
Sasuke almost smirked to himself when he saw Naruto's red eyes widen as he caught whiff of the steak nearby.
Naruto glanced over Sasuke with a glare before walking on all fours towards the steak.
While Naruto circled around the steak, Sasuke began to wonder whether or not he should have seasoned the steak with spices or how Naruto would eat it as he suddenly realized that the steak was definitely bigger than a single bite size.
Naruto sent Sasuke another distrustful glare while Sasuke kept his face calm and still, and then sniffed the steak.
Upon realizing that the steak smelled like very delicious food, Naruto's tongue stuck out from between his teeth and Sasuke saw that the blonde was salivating.
Naruto poked the steak with his nose and attempted to eat it, but like Sasuke had suspected, it was too large for him to fit into his mouth.
Sasuke began worrying that Naruto would abandon the steak and charge at him again since the remaining steak he had in his bag was larger than the steak Naruto was wrestling with.
Before Sasuke could do anything, though, Naruto crouched to his knees and elbows and used his clawed hands—fisted to resemble paws—to hold the steak down as he used his fangs to gnaw a bite off of the steak.
Once he achieved this feat, Naruto extended his arms—clawed hands still atop the steak—so he was sitting upright as he chewed.
After he swallowed his bite, he bent down so he could gnaw off another bite.
The process continued until the steak had vanished into Naruto's stomach; Sasuke had kept completely still all throughout.
After he had finished the steak, Naruto sniffed around the area, searching for more. When he found none, he turned back to Sasuke.
The Uchiha observed that the majority of the hunger that used to be prominent in Naruto's red, demonic eyes had disappeared, but saw that there was still some hunger visible.
But that was overpowered by Naruto's overall demeanor; he was crouched in a position that was ready to attack, his hair standing on edge, his claws digging into the ground, his fangs bared, and he was growling at Sasuke.
An animal was facing Sasuke, not his former teammate.
Even though Naruto looked ready to pounce, he started stalking towards Sasuke at a measured, slow pace. Not that that made Naruto's demeanor any less threatening.
Sasuke slowly reached into his bag and quickly brought out his remaining steak, holding it out so that Naruto could see.
Naruto's red eyes glared at him suspiciously as he sniffed his nose. Those red eyes lit up slightly when he recognized the scent of the steak, but that did not make him hurry over as it did before; he was approaching Sasuke at the same slow pace.
When Naruto was within reaching difference, he stopped.
He wasn't attacking…maybe the steak was too close to Sasuke's body? Was Naruto saying that it was alright to pet him as long as the steak was offered as a reward?
Sasuke's hand was definitely not shaking when he reached his hand out forwards so that he could pet Naruto.
Naruto's eyes darted towards Sasuke's hand and he bit at it.
If Sasuke hadn't pulled his hand back as quickly as he did, then he had no doubt that Naruto would have bit off at least a few fingers.
As he retreated his hand, he accidentally dropped the steak he held in the other hand.
Naruto's eyes slid to it and he stalked towards it and Sasuke, who kept completely still.
Naruto was about to circle the steak when he saw that Sasuke was still there, so he crouched once more, this time he looked ready to pounce.
Not wanting to leave any chance to fate in the vain hopes that his Nar—THE NARUTO FROM HIS MEMORIES was still in there and would not hurt him, Sasuke quickly pumped a lot of chakra into his legs and the bottom of his feet so that he could jump into the tree and not slip.
It was close, but he was able to successfully jump into the tree before Naruto could pounce on him; though Naruto's claw did rip his pants as they both jumped.
Once in the tree, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked down. He saw that Naruto had lost interest in him and had begun circling the steak in his adorab—ANIMALISTIC eating ritual.
It was getting late, and as much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke did not want Orochimaru or his pet Kabuto to get suspicious of him; especially when there was a storm on the way and he would have been expected back within the half hour if not sooner to avoid the torrents of rain that was sure to come.
Looking down, Sasuke allowed himself a smile as Naruto poked the steak with his nose; and allowed himself to admit that it was rather cute of his usurato—OF NARUTO to do this little ritual.
Sasuke took off running back through the trees so that he would be back to the base in approximately twenty-seven minutes or so and avoid suspicion.
While he ran, Sasuke wondered how he would be able to escape to the waterfall clearing tomorrow when it did rain.
Deciding that he would simply leave and tell Orochimaru to mind his own business and give anybody else—especially Kabuto—a Chidori if they asked, Sasuke allowed himself to imagine how Naruto would react when he realized that Sasuke had thrown the first piece of bacon near the bush he always hid in and pictured Naruto's adorable little ritual in his head, allowing the smile that brought to remain until he was within scouting range of Orochimaru's hideout.
And that was the chapter!
So one of my roommates and I were comparing our ships, and while we may not particularly agree with each other's ships (she more towards the cartoons or such with aliens or robots with humans in the heterosexual way and myself in the Anime yaoi sense) we respect each other's shipping and will listen to each other's musings.
But one thing that we both agree on is how annoying male pregnancy is in stories. She may not get it quite as much in the stories she reads as I do, but it is enough to annoy us both. For her, the annoyance lies within how it is explained; like they aren't human so I can mess around with their anatomy (which can go for demons as well). For me, it is mostly how it's annoying that whoever gets preggers becomes essentially a chick with a penis.
As mentioned, we both find male pregnancy in stories annoying and generally just drop the story whenever it pops up. But that might just be us.
Anyhoo, thanks as always to those who favorite and alert. And a supermegafoxyawesomehot thanks to those who review!