Darkness

Paws snapped twigs as they bolted through the forest, trying to direct the demon towards his target. Anger, pain, and even regret filled the demon's head as he snarled around him, wishing for the Uchiha to appear before him so that he could die.

Naruto was still a bit aware of the movement, but because of what the Kyuubi did, he was still stuck inside of him, letting the boy try and calm down after something like that traumatizing him. Yet, even in the darkness, the blonde could only think of the fact that something was wrong. He loved the raven-haired man, and he knew that Sasuke loved him back.

"Calm down child.. I will take care of him..." The voice resonated in the darkness around the blonde, causing him to shiver. It was more like a paternal voice than anything, as if the demon wanted to ease the soul of the person he was sealed within. Gripping his knees towards his chest, he hid his head within his knees, not wanting to deal with it.

A scream could be heard from a bit away, and the Kyuubi stopped in his tracks, listening. "NARUTO!" Blood lust swirled around those crimson eyes, as he let a sickening grin cross his face. Perfect...

Looking around frantically, Sasuke was worried about Naruto, and what he had done to the blonde in Konoha. Pangs of guilt swirled around in his stomach, making him feel as though he was ready to throw up. "NARUTO!" He continued to scream, as he jumped from branch to branch, searching for the blonde. In a moment's notice, he stopped and held a defensive status, feeling a large flare of chakra from in front of him, almost as if it taunted him.

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"Child..." Naruto looked up in the darkness to see the Kyuubi staring at him. "...I need you to do something..."

His sapphire eyes looked distant, as if he was trying to block out the demon that was being so nice to him at the moment. A growl shot his eyes back to looking at the flowing demon before him. "What..."

In the demon's eyes Naruto could see something different, something that the demon hated showing, concern for his host. "Merge your mind, body, and soul with mine..." Those crimson eyes shimmered a bit. "I need us to... be together... I want you safe... child."

The blonde looked down again, looking as if he was debating on whether or not to trust the demon. Within the Kyuubi's eyes and voice, he could hear the sincerity, the compassion the demon had for him, and he couldn't understand it. "Kyuubi... why?"

"Because... over the years I've resided as a soul next to yours... I saw the pain, the torture, the grief... I also saw your... strength through it... I only want to see that again... child." The Kyuubi continued to talk to him paternally, trying to ease the child's soul so that they could be stronger.

"Wouldn't that mean... you would be released into the world?" Cerulean eyes stared back up into crimson ones, shimmering a bit. "You would.. destroy everything if that happened."

A slight smile crossed the Kyuubi's features as he looked at Naruto. "Child... if we become one.. you'd still have control... we both want the same thing... to not be looked at as though we are an infection on the world..." Those crimson eyes closed for a moment, as the Kyuubi sighed a bit. "It is to protect you as well as me as well... We can't keep doing what we've been doing to your body... soon it will destroy itself.. even with my healing power."

The blonde stared at the Kyuubi, sensing more of the compassion. It was true, he could feel it as well, the longer they continued to just switch back and forth, the weaker his body got, but he didn't want to just become one with the demon on a whim. "Kyuubi..." He began to speak up, but he was shushed by the demon.

"Just take my paw child... I promise you.. everything will be alright." The demon held out one of his front paws through the bars that had appeared around Naruto, hoping that the blonde would realize this was the only way.

Those cerulean eyes stared at the paw a moment, as he thought back to how the demon had helped him, kept him safe even when everyone else turned him away. Closing his eyes, Naruto moved his own tanned hand towards the paw, before wrapping around it tightly. "Kyuubi... I trust you..."

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The raven-haired Uchiha growled a bit, when he sensed the chakra start to swirl just a few feet in front of him. Moving himself around the trunk of the tree, he stared down at the swirling mass of visible chakra that swarmed the ground. "SHARINGAN!" His eyes turned their crimson color, trying to distinguish if this was just an illusion, a trap set up, but as he stared at the crimson and blue chakra, the two colors began to fade away.

Crimson eyes stare down, watching as a figure slowly rose from lying there. Sasuke watched as the figure tossed his head back a bit, letting the blonde locks that were in his eyes be flung back to their normal position. At each tip of the blonde hair, seemed to be crimson, as if blood stained them. Hands stretched upwards towards the sky, as a crimson jacket clung to tanned hands, not letting a peak.

The Uchiha blinked for a moment, wondering where he had seen that stretch before, but as he did, his eyes traced along the back of the crimson jacket. A seal adorned the back, as if it was just a trademark symbol, but Sasuke's crimson eyes noticed that this wasn't a normal seal. "Kyuubi..." The raven-haired shinobi closed his eyes, hoping that he wasn't seeing the truth, and as he opened them back up, he noticed that the blonde had turned around, concluding his fears were all true.

Naruto stared out into the forest around him, blinking a bit as tried to get a sense of things. He could feel the difference in himself, the fact that there was no cell inside of his mind showed him that. Child... The blonde's eyes went wide as he heard the voice in his head. Fear not child.. I'm here with you... we are but one thing, one person... and as that.. we are now the greater power... Let my strength aid you, child.. as your strength aids me.. Shivering slightly, Naruto only nodded at the voice inside of his head, "Hai..."

A snapping drew the blonde's attention towards Sasuke, who muttered a silent curse about the tree being too weak. "Uchiha..." Naruto's voice was surprisingly calm to the other shinobi, making him jump down to face his friend up close. Sasuke could only gawk at the new Naruto that stood before him, those golden locks with crimson tips, that fine body hugged closely by a crimson jacket, and those black pants that seemed to stand out a bit. But, he saw something more that made him both curious and apprehensive. Staring into the blonde's eyes, he saw that they weren't the same innocent blue that they always had been, nor were they the Kyuubi's red. They did have some of those colors, but there was a third one inside his eyes, purple. All three colors seemed to swirl around, as if they were in the sky as passing clouds.

"Uchiha..." Those beautiful eyes narrowed, as a tanned hand caressed his own cheek, rubbing over the scars that were still there. "I've been meaning to give you something..." Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment, before he lurched forward; the tanned hand that had caressed those scars beneath the twirling eyes, had quickly balled itself into a fist and slammed into the other shinobi's stomach. "That.. was for what you said..."

Stumbling backwards a bit, Sasuke took a few deep breaths in, as he stared at Naruto. "DOBE!" He screamed, before he looked down. "I guess... I deserved that..." But as his eyes moved back up to the blonde, he noticed that Naruto was closer to him again. Within his chest, Sasuke could feel his heart speed up at the distance that just separated their lips, a few centimeters at most.

Rosy lips parted into a grin, as Naruto showed off his fangs to his lover. "You think that's all you deserve?" The blonde chuckled as he moved himself a bit backward, letting his feet wing by and slam into the Uchiha's chest. Sasuke stumbled again, his chest aching from the assault that Naruto had started on him, his eyes staring in awe at what his lover was doing. "YOU DESERVE A LOT MORE PAIN FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Naruto's eyes began to swirl around quicker and quicker, as he bolted towards the raven-haired ninja.

Realizing that the blonde wouldn't stop attacking him, Sasuke held up a defensive stance, stopping a slam from Naruto's right fist into his chest. Things started to click in his head with what Fayne had told him. Naruto was his enemy now, and he'd have to treat the blonde like that, not like he was still his lover. Pale hands quickly began to make seals, as crimson eyes stared towards swirling ones.

Sasuke shivered as he looked into those eyes, seeing the one thing he hoped he never would see, blood lust. Too much for him to think about, Sasuke closed his own eyes and held the final seal in front of him. "Fireball Jutsu!" With his fingers pinched near his mouth, he began to breath out fireballs, not even aiming one bit. With relative ease, Naruto dodged them, before landing on a tree branch a few more feet away from the Sharingan user.

As his attack finished, Sasuke opened his eyes again, to be greeted by a grinning Naruto. The blonde was holding one palm over the other, molding his chakra together, as he stared at the stunned Uchiha. Rasengan began to form within Naruto's grasp as he chuckled, his palms pushing down towards the volatile attack. "RASENGAN CLAWS!" Tanned fingers squeezed through the energy ball, splitting it up into smaller ones. Moving quickly, he thrusted his hands towards Sasuke, letting the smaller, almost needle-like, attacks go for the black-haired man.

Sharingan eyes wide, Sasuke jumped to the side, just barely missing most of the attack, however his left leg had gotten hit a couple of times, causing him to wince. "Kuso..." He muttered under his breath, before holding another seal quickly. With his chakra beginning to flow towards his feet, he let it all explode, as he jumped up towards the blonde, not even caring about the bleeding leg he had. In his right fist, Sasuke began to let Chidori summon itself, ready to slam it into the blonde to knock some sense into the dobe.

However, as his pale hand came close to Naruto's stomach, the blonde grabbed just a bit higher and swung the Uchiha around until he let his feet touch a tree and kick him back to Naruto. "Damnit, usuratonkichi!" His fist started to crack with more energy, as his Chidori grew larger and larger, causing the Uchiha to wince a bit. This time, Naruto jumped over the genius, only to slam his feet into Sasuke's back, causing him to lose Chidori and fall towards the ground.

Tanned hands grabbed a branch, keeping himself up in the air, as his swirlign eyes stared down to the wincing Uchiha on the ground. "Teme... You don't deserve to call me anything... You don't deserve to live, you bastard!" Spinning himself around the branch, the blonde launched himself towards Sasuke, his claws at the ready to slash open that pale neck.

Knowing that time was beginning to run out, Sasuke decided to try and use the technique he had seen Keladry do. His pale fingers locked in seals, as his Sharingan disappeared. As Naruto closed in on Sasuke, he began to see something strange in the black-haired genius' eyes. They had gone back to their normal color, yes, but there seemed to be a white tamoe in each one, spinning around slowly as the Uchiha continued to do the hand seals. "Shit.. he's trying something." Naruto moved his hands towards his kunai pack, and drew out six of his kunai, holding them in his two hands. Child... try the seal of blades... "Blades?" The blonde whispered back to the voice, but the Kyuubi melded back with him, leaving him to discover what he meant.

His eyes stared down as the Uchiha held the final seal, keeping his hands within it to constantly channel his chakra into the jutsu. Naruto's mind worked overtime, before he remembered something, it was an attack that Jiraiya had taught him, trying to show the blonde how to manipulate the demon chakra he had. Tanned hands quickly moved into a circle, as Naruto watched the crimson chakra hold steady in the air. "Seal of the Six Blades!" With his hands still moving, he let the chakra take the kunai, before all six slammed down towards Sasuke, each one finding a nice fleshy spot to dig themselves in.

Crying out in pain, Sasuke held his seal true before letting the jutsu finally come out. "Twilight Style, Water Balance Jutsu!" From his pale and bloodied hands, came a large column of water, within it being small senbon needles that he didn't know were within the water, as it slammed into the blonde, shoving him back against a tree. Wincing in pain, Naruto felt each and every needle stick into his body, though they weren't shot with great accuracy, they still hurt like hell.

The water column disappeared, letting Naruto fall onto a branch, before falling onto the ground. Sasuke stared up at the sky, panting to himself a bit at the power he just released, his eyes wiped of the spinning tamoe. He couldn't move any part of his pale body, as if it was all just paralyzed, but he knew the truth, he was too drained to do anything.

Grunting came, as Naruto stood back up, wavering back and forth as if he was going to fall once more. His feet made their way towards the laying Uchiha, before the blonde smirked. "Why do you stare up at the sky with your blurry eyes?" Sasuke blinked at him, before his eyes began to feel heavy again. "Time to finish what you started." Those sharp claws began to wake their way down to the pale neck, but a woman's call stopped them.

"SASUKE! SASUKE! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Scrunching up his nose, Naruto turned away.

"I guess I'll need to finish it another time.. Uchiha-teme.." The blonde laughed as he walked away from Sasuke, feeling his body begin to heal, forcing the needles out of his body.

The sky above him became just a blur, as he wondered whether he would die or not. A part of him wanted to die, that part was happy when he felt those claws near his neck. But the other part, the other part wanted to live and correct this all. Fix what he had done to Naruto, and bring back his lover.

Meguri-kuru toki ni,
Taisetsu na hito wa mou,
Furimuita sono hitomi ni,
Chiisa na tameiki....

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http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b208/knilkimura/Naruto.png << I'd like to give a great shout out to my best friend, Kivae for drawing this lovely pic of my new and improved version of Naruto-kun. ^^ You should all thank her as well for giving us all a visual representation of Kyuubi-Naruto merger.