A/N– AND I'm back! Sorry for the delay due to the holidays but I have returned now and provided another chapter. It's really the chapter the begins the plot for this book.
Summary- Facing your past isn't easy. Looking your shame in the eye and accepting it as your own takes a lot of strength. Naruto opens the Door. Second Story in RWB Trilogy.
Parings- SasuNaru, some KakaIru, KyuubiKarasu
Rating- very much an R rated fic
Warning- sexual situations, foul language, self-mutilation, attempted suicide.
Spoilers- Nah
Disclaimer– I'm at work… again… again… again
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White Lies
Chapter Four
It is done…
XxXxXxX
This is the beginning of the end.
Naruto felt it. He could feel the bond straining to be completed, to become a closed circuit. He felt himself drawn to Sasuke every moment of every day. His molecules vibrated with the energy used to restrain himself. It wasn't going to be much longer.
Sasuke was on his way over and Naruto was almost done moving the furniture, Kyuubi was in the bedroom and from the bond he could feel Karasu was with him and asleep. Once the room was clear and the rug was put to the side revealing the black painted floor, all that was left was to draw the array very precisely.
On his hands and knees drawing very slowly creating some very small symbols was how Sasuke found his boyfriend when he walked into the front of the apartment. He stood over the blond for a few moments until it became clear that he was not going to be acknowledged while the symbols were incomplete. He looked around and found Kyuubi sitting in the kitchen area looking like he just rolled out of bed. Sasuke wandered over to the fox and sat across from him. Together they watched Nartuo.
"He's been like that for an hour…" Kyuubi mumbled before sipping his steaming cup of tea.
Sasuke glanced at the fox whose hair was sticking up in impossible directions. "He does become very focused when he's working, probably doesn't even know I'm here."
Kyuubi nodded, "Tea?" he offered.
"Yes."
Kyuubi went to the counter to fix another cup of tea. Sasuke just watched his boyfriend working diligently. There was a fire in his eyes that wasn't there before his soul was complete.
After another hour of sipping tea while listening to the light scratching of chalk on the floor, the sound of a door creaking open caught Sasuke and Kyuubi attention. They glanced over to the bedroom in time to see Karasu stumble out. His hair was even more wild then Kyuubi's, he was wearing only a pair of pajama pants and had the bed spread around his shoulders.
"Hey" Sasuke raised his hand in greeting.
Karasu grunted as she shuffled to the counter.
Kyuubi smirked into his tea. His lover was almost completely non-functional before his tea.
Sasuke lowered his hand with a raised brow… "OK…" he mumbled.
Karasu sat at the table with them, the three men watched the very beautiful and complicated pattern on the floor grow slowly with every passing minute. Ten more minutes of sipping tea passed…
"HOLY SHIT!" Karasu jumped out of his chair and pointed to the floor. "Do you guys see the amazing array Naruto's drawing on the floor?! When did he do that?!"
Kyuubi snorted into his cup. Sasuke was very confused… Karasu had been looking at the floor with them for ten minutes. He opened his mouth to voice his thought but stopped when he felt Kyuubi place a hand on his arm and saw him shake his head.
"Yes dear we saw it, he's been working on it all morning." Kyuubi said soothingly.
Karasu sat back down and looked into his empty tea cup. He seemed to be thinking for a moment then he sighed. "I did it again didn't I?"
Kyuubi nodded, "it was very cute."
Karasu glared at him.
"When did you guys get here?" all attention went to Naruto as he sat on the floor looking over at them with slightly glassy eyes. Sasuke recognized his expression as the one he wears when he is slipping out of work focus.
"We have been here for about two hours." Kyuubi chimed in.
"Oh… I didn't realize." The blond blushed and scratched the back of his head.
"That was apparent Dobe." Sasuke said with affection.
Naruto stood up and walked over to them. "So what do you think?" he gestured at the finished array.
Everyone was silent as they gazed at the detailed chalk drawing. It was many circles over lapping with a larger one. Around the outside of each circle were small tightly spaced symbols and arrows. There was a very obvious place for each of the bondmates to site in a diamond pattern.
"Looks good" Sasuke said lamely. Naruto smiled none the less and hugged him. "Thanks."
"So when do we do this?" Kyuubi asked gruffly, he was obviously uncomfortable about something.
Naruto hesitated at his friend's attitude but answered anyway, "Tonight at sunset."
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Tsunade had been walking for about an hour. No longer was her village in sight. The longer she walked the deeper the lonely feeling she was carrying burrowed into her heart. She knew that leaving everyone behind to complete this meeting was going to be hard but she might have underestimated how hard. She would have given her left foot to have Shizune at her side right now. Her loyal friend was someone she confided in.
The forest was becoming thick and wild. Trees were growing larger as she treaded forward. She was now in the heart of the forest surrounding the village. Most people would find the looming trees and the darkness of the canopy to be obsessive and unnerving, but Tsunade found it comforting as one of the people of this forest. The thick trees were like a protective blanket that she could hold tight around herself. She was not looking forward to the trees thinning out and letting way to the valley beyond.
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The four bondmates stood on the dock where the beginning of their story really started. The place where two small lonely boys met and set off a chain reaction of events that would bring the two humans and the two demons together.
The sun was past midday and they all knew they needed to get back to the apartment if they wanted to finish the bond. But something held them back for a lingering moment. They all seemed to know that something was going to happen to change everything, they all wanted to view the world as it was for just a little longer.
"We should probably get back. " Kyuubi whispered in a thick gruff voice.
Naruto wanted to comment o the emotions behind his words but kept quiet. In a short amount of time he would have all his questions answered.
Together they walked down the street to the apartment, it was the first time they all walked out in the open at once. The demons normally didn't make public appearances since no one but their friends knew what they were. People looked at them and whispered, right before the apartment Sakura saw them and waved, they all waved back in unison. Sakura gave them a weird look but they shrugged it off, they were all letting their bonds flow completely open so they were in sync more than usual.
They reached the apartment and filed in, they stood in the darkening living room for a moment while they allowed the last of their nervousness to slip away. Then Sasuke looked out the window, "it almost time."
On cue everyone took their place in the array, Naruto sat stiffly and took a deep breath. It was his job to lead this ceremony and he didn't want to fuck up. All the blinds were open and the setting sunlight was streaming in, the edge of the light was about to touch the first circle of the array.
"When the light touches the chalk we will begin." Naruto announced.
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Tsunade was fast approaching the cloud, she let her run slow down to a brisk walk as the tallest of their buildings began to rise over the horizon along with the rocky mountain peaks that surrounded their man made plateaus.
Living in the sky… Tsunade would never understand the appeal. There was no canopy cover or warm sounds of the forest. You can't rap the sky around yourself like a protective blanket. Well, this wasn't her village, to each their own…
She began to pick up the pace a bit more, it was time to get this over with and go home.
To the trees.
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Sasuke and Naruto were sitting within the inner most circles facing each other, Kyuubi was on the right outer circle while Karasu was on the left both facing inwards.
The light touched the chalk, and like a syphon the sun light was sucked into the white powder and lit it up like it was made of diamond dust. All four men were a bit surprised, even Naruto. He knew what was supposed to happen but a part of his doubted it would work.
Once the first circle was filled with light Naruto began his mantra. He looked at Sasuke and smiled as he spoke the words that would bind them forever. Now that he thought about it this was some kind of weird crazy wedding. The blond almost laughed but held it in so he wouldn't mess up and blow them all to pieces.
The light slowly filled the chalky pathways on the floor, glowing softly with a pale yellow light against the pitch black floor. If you would looking down from above it was probably a very impressive sight.
When the last circle was brightly glowing Naruto finished his mantra and reached out his hand to Sasuke who also reached out and using both their hands they formed the seal for Fox that Naruto created and then together in unison the switched to the seal for bird followed by the twin snake for bonding.
The moment the last seal was formed all the light held in the Array burst upwards in a gust of wind so strong the chalk was blown away and that was followed by a wave of chakra that the entire village felt.
Everything that made the bondmates who they were flowed between their minds, and for an entire second they were one collective consciousness. Naruto saw Kyuubi's anger, he saw the demon attack Konoha and he saw the truth.
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Tsunade crested the final hill before the Cloud, the village was still far enough away to be partly obscured by the low clouds and altitude. The sun was beating down from the blue sky and Tsunade used her hand to shield her eyes as she surveyed the distance left.
A glitter at the top of the tallest plateau that was painted blue caught her attention, the sun was glinting off something reflexive, possibly a forehead protector?
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Naruto didn't rejoice in the unity he felt with his boyfriend or his best friend, he looked directly into red cat slit eyes, they became blurry as his own tear blocked his vision.
"I… didn't know how, the words always felt wrong…" Kyuubi's voice was thick.
Naruto felt the Fox's memories sliding through his mind, sterile white rooms with cold metal table, needles poking him sedating his pain and his anger while it grew. From a high glass window he could see the elders of each clan, the village council watching with cold eyes.
Naruto understood what happened, why Kyuubi didn't tell him, why the two demons weren't letting people know who they were.
When he was at his weakest, when he was at his lowest, they attacked. Karasu was gone and he had nothing to live for. The Konoha shinobi descended upon him and he didn't try and fight it. They sedated him, they restrained him, and in the dead of night they secreted him into the village and held him underground below the Hokage tower. For months they tested on him and prodded him and he did nothing. They wanted to use him, to weaponize him.
The only small relief for Naruto was that there were no memories of the fourth ever being in the secret lab. He must not have known.
The council has probably been working separately from the Hokage for many years, with their own troops and their own agenda.
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A concussive sound broke the peace of the mountain valley. Large clouds of birds took to the air.
Tsunade felt her heart skip in surprise, then she felt nothing.
XxXxXxX
Naruto watched the memory of Kyuubi listening to the scientist talk, of over hearing bits and pieces, and of putting it together like a puzzle.
It was always a trap, they harassed the Gobi into attacking Karasu. They were the reason he was dead.
Naruto felt the same rage his Fox felt for the people of the village. It didn't matter that the council was at fault or that the pedestrians were innocent. All that matter was revenge. The burning heat of his anger and his chakra overwhelmed him and over took the sedatives. Then there was nothing but red as the horrible night that Kyuubi attacked the village of Konoha began.
Only no one knew that the fox demon didn't come to attack, he attacked from the heart of the village.
Naruto knew he was sobbing, he could feel the tears on his face and the pain in his throat as the wails ripped from his body… but he was lost.
He had loved this village when he couldn't love anything, and it had betrayed him.
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The light wind picked up her stray blond hairs, they danced for a moment and then settled over her eyes. One hair was bold enough to land on her pupil. She didn't blink, her hand didn't raise to wipe it away or tuck it behind her ear.
The purple diamond on her head was punctured by a neat hole, its life saving chakra that it held was released to the world and carried on the wind. A trickle of blood slid from the wound, down the bridge of her nose to her unmoving lips.
The bullet was embedded in the ground twenty feet behind where she rested.
XxXxXxX
The oldest of the council members, a woman with gray hair and beads resting of her forehead from her hair decoration, sighed. She looked at the time piece on her desk.
She looked back up to the rest of the council.
"It is done…" she intoned.
XxXxXxX
Jiraiya sat in a local bar. His large hand rested on the sake cup. He worried about Tsunade, he felt the pain of her not looking back at him as she left. He was trying to do what was best for the village and wished she understood.
He wonder if she would forgive him when she returned.
A/N- well… had that planned for a long time. Don't know how well it turned out but it is done.