Yoru No Koishii

^_^;;; Much as I hate to admit it, in the bustle of school and Christmas and such, I actually forgot about this. Just for a while, though. But here I am, back. And happy birthday Kari-chan. Gosh this thing really is a year old. How bout that. I’d like to say I specifically made it to be on your birthday…

Trouble: But she didn’t.

D’Ceandre: *Hits her* Ah well, it sounded nice. Enjoy.

******

Two days. And I’ve been counting every minute. Not that I’ve had much else to do. The Akatsuki members have been having trouble with their demons, no pun intended. Already the number has halved. Two members I never learned the names of are dead now, as well as Nishirachi, and Kimi. My only regret about the last one was that it wasn’t me who got to kill her. Sasuke would probably be shocked at that thought. He thinks I’m still the innocent I always was. True, I don’t like killing, usually, but there are a few people I’d happily see out of this world.

Strangely enough, Itachi isn’t one of them.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, after all that he’s put me through, I should be as eager to go after him as Sasuke, or more so, but… sometimes, lately, Itachi acts oddly; little shivers, or blinking, like he had just come out of a trance. There are even moments, when he seems almost kind, though they’re rare. I can’t understand it, really.

And speak of the devil… I look up at the click of the lock, and the elder Uchiha walks in, only giving me a quick glance, before heading toward the bathroom. He looks like he’s been training, or fighting, and I wonder which it is. Does Itachi even train? Why would he need to?

I lie back on the bed and start counting the tiny, and not-so-tiny, cracks in the ceiling again. There’ve been a lot added lately, and I sometimes wonder just how much punishment the building can take. I would have thought it would have fallen down long since. Maybe it’s chakra re-enforced or something.

My hand slides across the smooth skin of the snake’s body. I’ve kind of gotten used to him being around lately, and he doesn’t scare me at all now. I wonder if Sasuke’s snakes are from a different clan or something, because they don’t act anything like Orochimaru’s did. Or maybe it’s just a reflection of the summoners’ personalities.

“Naru-chan.” I look up as Itachi comes out, the fact that he’s nude as the day he was born not really fazing me anymore. He has no worries about being too modest, that’s for sure. “Go get cleaned up.”

I blink at him, then obediently get up and head toward the bathroom, the snake hissing slightly as we pass Itachi, wondering what he’s got planned. Usually, he doesn’t care what I look like, beyond keeping myself reasonably cleaned up.

By the time I get back out, the room’s empty, a yukata lying on the bed. Surprisingly, instead of the red clouds and black background the Akatsuki favour, it’s black with an orange fox stitched up the side, nine tails splayed over the back of it. The hem is trimmed as well, in small blue flowers and gold scrollwork. The same pattern adorns the hems of the sleeves. I just stared at it for a moment in surprise, wondering if I was imagining things or something, but the design didn’t change, so finally, I just put it on.

It’s not long before Itachi returns, stopping inside the door to look at me a moment, before moving around the bed. I turn my head to follow his movements, still confused.

“Face forward, Naru-chan.” I hesitate, then turn my head back to look at the door, an itch forming between my shoulder blades as I resist the urge to disobey and see what he’s doing. But there’s no point in pissing him off if he’s in a good mood. Still, I jump, though, when I feel the cool touch of a kunai against the back of my neck.

“Wh… why?” I ask. Why is he acting so oddly today? Am I dreaming or something? That’s it, I must have fallen asleep in the bath.

“Because I wish to.” He answers calmly, as he continues cutting my hair to what feels like its more usual length. I just frown, reaching to pet the snake again, completely confused now. Damned Uchiha.

The cut is quick, and I’m soon following Itachi down the hall, to a part of the building I haven’t seen before, or at least I don’t think I have, unless it was while I was drugged. We eventually end up at a door I know I’ve never seen before, and I wince at the bright light that shines in when he opens it, not used to the intensity, despite the fact that Itachi’s room does have windows. No inside building can hope to match the light of a sunny day outside.

I look around once my eyes have adjusted, surprised. We’re in a well-kept garden, and I can see, through some bushes, that there are other people in here as well. Itachi gives me a little push and turns to go back inside.

“Go play. I have things to take care of.” Now, putting aside the condescension in that statement, it’s more then I’ve been allowed in… well, since Sasuke left and I was given to Itachi. For a moment I wonder what his ‘things’ are, but the chance of him actually telling me are slim to none, so I don’t bother asking.

I do note, as the door closes behind him, that there’s no doorknob or anything on the outside. So there’s no way for me to get back in, short of him coming to get me. There’s probably a jutsu to open in, but that won’t really do me any good either. Not that I really want to go back in.

I follow the path of crushed stone to where I saw the glimpse of that other person, and find, to my surprise, seven other people. It seems all the carriers, except for Gaara, are here, and I wonder where he is. I’d rather have him here then all these strange people, especially with the dirty looks I’m already receiving.

Feeling nervous, I scratch my head and smile brightly, a habit I’ve never outgrown, hoping that no one will decide to take out their bad moods on the newest member of their little group. I’m relieved, though, when a girl comes over, smiling back at me. She almost seems familiar, and I frown, until my blurry memory finally places her as the girl Sasuke had following him around. Oh, so she was another of us. Well, I suppose I was mistaken, then.

“Konnichiwa. I’m Uzumaki Naruto.” I announce, and the girl gives me her name, followed, with varying degrees of reluctance, by the others, except for the guy who’s acting like a dog, who only barks at me. I decide to ignore him for now.

Everyone’s wearing outfits a lot like mine, except with their own demons portrayed on them. I wonder aloud how much it would confuse them if we were to switch outfits, which only gets me a slap over the head by one girl, and a lecture on how foolish I’m behaving.

Before I can cause any other trouble, the door opens and a dark presence, unmistakeable to me, enters. Gaara’s definitely not happy about something, and of course, being as curious as I am, I have to know what.

“Hey! Sandman!” I call, turning to face his glower with a bright smile. He only grunts at me, looking up to give the others a deadly glare. Predictably, they all move back, looking especially nervous when he pulls his hands out of his sleeves, twin cyclones of sand swirling in his palms. As I watch, somewhat amazed, the cyclones grow, the sand finally moving to form a gourd, somewhat smaller then usual.

“Hey! You don’t have your bracelets on. So you can remove mine, right?”

“Hai, Uzumaki. But don’t go causing trouble right away.” He warns, and I nod, glad for any chance to be free of the bindings. He makes a few seals, and the bracelets and anklets snap open and fall off, the feeling of the chakra and the fox flooding back into me. There’s something else, too, and I smile as I realise that I can still feel Sasuke. I wonder how long this jutsu lasts.

Gaara doesn’t pay much attention to me, merely going to the other carriers, telling them the same thing and removing the seals, except for the dog one. I suppose he figures he’s too dangerous to turn loose right now. As for me, I’m practically bouncing off the trees from all the extra chakra I have in my system. And even the fox’s rude comments are welcome for once, at least until they head in the direction of how nice an orgy would be right about now. Perverted demon.

“All right!” I exclaim suddenly, taking a moment to assure the fox that I wasn’t talking to him, and that there was no way in hell I was going to be having group sex with a bunch of near strangers. “Time to go show those stupid bastards what happens when they mess with Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage.”

“No,” Gaara says, giving me one of his ‘move and you’re dead’ looks. “We wait.”

“For what?” Suddenly there’s a loud bang from within the building. Anger and hatred flare down the link from Sasuke, and I blink, surprised. Gaara starts to move toward back toward the door, looking grim.

“Now,” he says, and I blink in surprise at the phrasing, “we kick ass.”

******

Fitting title, no? I just had to throw that last bit in, even though I know it’s so un-Gaara-like. Ah well.

Baddaytoday: Good. Yes, I suppose there will be a somewhat sequel, since I’ve already got a bunch of plot kitties nipping at my heels. They haven’t quite formed into a storyline yet, though. *Shrugs.* I’m sure they’ll fit together eventually.
And the snake thing was just something I’ve made up, since, so far as I know, Itachi’s never tried to Mangekyou a snake in the anime or manga.

Anyway, gotta go write more. ;D