As Above So Below

As Above So Below
Chapter 3

Sasuke was hard at work at the Madara barbeque, but kept both eyes peeled sharply. Thus far, he’d seen nothing to incur his curiosity, but he’d only been here a couple of hours. Damn, but there were a lot of people here. And how Sasuke hated crowds of this sort. All the laughter, the quarrelling couples, the whining children with sticky hands and dirty faces. However they annoyed him, though, he refused to let them get to him. He had to pay attention, to see what other faces he recognized. In the five weeks he’d been here, he’d seen two people that had made his hair stand on end.

Shikamaru hadn’t been Shikamaru; he’d been Marcus, and he’d been into painting and getting high on street corners. And Kakashi had been a security officer at the bank Sasuke used. He didn’t read porn, but he had a horrendously filthy sense of humor, and didn’t care who he shared it with. He was also quite fat, something that had shocked Sasuke. However, it drove home to the raven that this world must lay very close to his own, to have so many familiar faces in it.

Would he find this world’s version of Naruto? Would he find his own blonde? He had to, he just had to.

There was a sudden rush on the pizza stand, and for a long while, Sasuke was too busy to take note of much. However, in the midst of his working frenzy, he did hear, with one ear at first, a little boy’s voice.

“Uncle Jason, why does that man have mama’s headband? And why does he look like Papa?”

The boy didn’t actually use the word headband, he used an archaic term, to this society anyway, of hitai-ate. And as such, it caught Sasuke’s attention, like nothing else.

“Hmmm?” Someone responded to the boy idly. “Did you say something, Sauce?” Though normally, Sasuke was indignant to be called such, for he was ten years old now and far too old for such baby names, he was too curious about what was before him to be offended.

Sasuke’s eyes dilated, filled with the vision of what appeared to be himself in his young childhood. The pair of them stared unblinkingly at each other. Out of the corner of his eye, the elder Sasuke took note of a very tall, very broad man holding the little boy’s hand. Finally dragging his eyes away from the boy and to the man, his throat became dry.

“Jiraiya…” He couldn’t help himself. He knew the man wouldn’t go by the same name, but it was undeniably this world’s version of the Jiraiya that had trained Naruto over the years. Though his hair was neatly tied back, there were no facial tattoos, and he was dressed conservatively, Sasuke would know him a mile away.

When the boy didn’t respond, Jason looked down, and then up to where the little boy was staring so fixedly. And drew in a loud gasp.

This boy before him now, at the edge between adolescence and adulthood, was the exact spitting image of Stefan Madara, even down to the stubborn cowlick at the back of the head, forcing the hair up like a cockatoo’s crest. Wide eyes took in all this, then dropped to the boy’s throat, where yet another of those horrible head bands, or ‘hitai-ates’ as Naruto called them, rested.

“Boy… who are you, and where did you get that?” With a rather rude gesture, Jason pointed at the headband.

“You’ve seen this before, haven’t you?” Sasuke asked, uncharacteristically eager and ignoring the older man’s question.

“Maybe I have, and maybe I haven’t. Who are you?” Jiraiya’s double asked, his voice dropping and growing cold.

“Sasuke Uchiha,” Sasuke shot forth, too filled with anticipation to take offense. This man had seen this particular type of hitai-ate before, that much was obvious. And the sight of it disturbed him. He had to have seen Naruto!

All the spit dried up in Jason’s mouth, as the ramifications of this little encounter could mean. Of course, it couldn’t possibly be Naruto’s ‘Sasuke’, he was far too young. But the boy did have the exact same headband that was so precious to the blond woman now in their lives, and could possibly be the son of said ‘Sasuke’. He swallowed dryly, and wished his wife were with him. She would know what to do. This boy stood to really test the bonds of Naruto’s psyche, and it chilled him to the bone.

That the older man was quite freaked out right now, Sasuke felt hope surge in his breast. Dropping the half tossed dough in his once frozen hands, he dusted his hands off on his pants, and dug into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Thankfully, he’d kept all the pictures of Naruto there, and not in his long gone weapons kit.

“Listen, Jiraiya… er… Mister, have you seen this boy?” With shaking hands, Sasuke flipped the side of the wallet open, and out spilled a multitude of worn and dog eared photographs. All portraying a blonde haired, blue eyed boy. “He’s my… friend, his name’s Naruto Uzumaki, and I’ve been looking for him for over a year and a half.”

Jason grabbed the pictures even more rudely than he’d pointed before, feeling strangely ill. He looked at each and ever one. Though some had others in them, most of them were of a so familiar blonde, even down to the whisker marks on the cheeks. The ‘boy’, obviously a very young Naruto, wore a glaringly orange jumpsuit in almost every one of them. A very familiar jumpsuit. Though Naruto could no longer wear it, she kept the now faded and quite ragged outfit, like the headband.

“Where did you get these?” Jason asked in a strangled voice. Somehow, this boy, who he was beginning to believe ever more strongly was the son of Naruto’s Sasuke Uchiha, had coveted pictures of Naruto as a youngster. It could be no one else. And true, the Naruto child looked increasingly masculine in the series of pictures, why did the lad keep calling Naruto a boy? Naruto was very much a woman, down to her delicate toes. Could this boy have been an unknowing part of a conspiracy to make Naruto believe she’d been born a boy? Was that why the sweet and normally sane blonde had such wild stories of her youth?

He abruptly snapped all the pictures into one pile. “Listen… Sasuke… I would like to take a couple of these pictures and show them to someone. Don’t go anywhere, okay? I don’t know any ‘boy’ Naruto, but these pictures may be an important piece to the puzzle of someone very dear to my heart.”

Sasuke was silent, watching the man closely. He didn’t miss the stress on the word boy, and wondered what it meant. However, he wasn’t about to let a single picture of Naruto, all he had left of his lover now, out of his hands. Besides, this man knew more than he was letting on, and Sasuke absolutely could not let him walk away, for any reason. Not without him.

“No, you can’t,” He said in a cool voice. “If anyone’s going to show them, I will.”

“Dammit boy,” Jason growled, frustrated. Right now, Stefan and Nathan were with Naruto, and there was no way in hell Jason was going to let this strange boy anywhere near Naruto, for fear of what his tales and face could do to the already fragile woman. Not without the three men, and Suzanne, talking to him first.

“Daddy!” Little Sasuke suddenly squeaked, and both Sasuke and Jason jumped. They’d almost completely forgotten about him. The boy darted away, and laughingly threw himself into the arms of a rather short blonde man.

Sasuke couldn’t breathe. He was going to faint. He was going to fall flat on his face. “N… Naruto…” He stammered, his vaunted Uchiha pride nonexistent at the moment.

But no, it couldn’t be his Naruto. This man was too old, and he didn’t have any whiskers. Sasuke felt the terrible urge to burst into tears. This is what his Naruto would look like when he grew older, minus, of course, Naruto’s distinctive markings. Jesus God… Naruto was going to get even more stunning, if this man was any indication. Sasuke’s knees grew weak, and his eyes grew moist. Naruto!

The smiling blonde, now holding the boy on his shoulder, swung up to them, seeing only his uncle at the moment. “Hey, Uncle Jason, what’s taking so long? We’re hungry and…” His eyes flicked towards Sasuke, and he froze solid.

There was a long silence, as neither of the men heard the endless raucous noise about them, everything fading into muted noiselessness, broken only by racing heartbeats.

Nathan’s eyes dropped to the headband around Sasuke’s neck, and he licked suddenly dry lips. “Who…”

“He says his name is Sasuke Uchiha,” Jason said softly.

“Hey, that’s my name,” the little boy on Nathan’s shoulder suddenly piped up, brow furrowing. “Sasuke Uchiha Madara. How funny!” And he smirked in such a familiar way, Sasuke thought once more he might faint.

Then Jason thrust the pictures under Nathan’s nose. The blonde suddenly set little Sasuke down, and took the pictures.

“It’s… Naruto… as a child…” he said faintly. Then beautiful and familiar blue eyes sharpened and grew cold as ice. “Where did you get these?”

“They’re mine,” Sasuke bit out, getting tired of these veiled innuendos that he had no right to them. “They are of my best friend in the world. Naruto Uzumaki. You know where he is, don’t deny it. I heard you say his name.”

“‘His’ name?” Nathan said, looking suddenly bewildered. “But Naruto’s my wife. She’s certainly no boy and…” Suddenly Nathan trailed off.

Utter silence, despite the festive noises still flowing around them.

“She wasn’t lying, she’s not delusional. She… she…” Nathan breathed softly. And suddenly, he realized what was happening. “No. Go away, boy. She’s ours. Go away!” And holding the pictures tightly, he swept his son into his arms, and ran away.

“Nathan!” Jason bawled. “Don’t be ridiculous!” He gave a quick look at Sasuke, who was still frozen into place by Nathan’s claim that Naruto was his wife. He thrust a business card into the boy’s hand. “Call me. Tonight.” And he too vanished into the throng.

Sasuke immediately came out of his daze, and vaulted over the counter, ignoring his boss’s scream to come back. The damn older blonde clone took all his pictures! And he knew where Naruto was!

The sun had long set, the crowds had thinned to sparse groups, and Sasuke knew he’d lost them irrevocably. He leaned against a board fence, drawing shaky breaths as tears leaked down his cheeks. He’d lost the last things he had of Naruto. He slowly reached into his pocket and took out the card Jason had given him.

Jason Sannin… figures. Hm. A psychiatrist. Interesting. Without a second lost, he turned and headed straight towards the first payphone he could find.

****

Stefan was sitting on a bench with Naruto, bouncing Narue lightly on his lap, the little girl dissolving into giggles. Suddenly, Nathan dashed up, face white as chalk, holding onto a squirming protesting little Sasuke.

Alarmed, Stefan stood up, handing Narue to Naruto. “What’s wrong, Koi?” It was a term he’d learned from Naruto years ago, and absolutely loved it, using it on both Naruto and Nathan whenever he felt like it.

“We have to go. Right now. We have to leave this place. Now, Stefan!” He shoved the raven’s son into Stefan’s arms, snatched up Narue, and pulled Naruto to her feet.

“Nathan, what’s wrong?” Naruto asked, blue eyes wide. Seldom did Nathan ever get so fearfully frantic. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re going home, right now,” Nathan said, obviously distraught. He towed Naruto behind him, and Stefan followed with his son, frowning thunderously.

“What happened?” Naruto asked, bewildered. “We never ate and…”

“Nathaniel Arashi, stop right there.” Stefan’s voice was forbidding.

Behind Naruto’s back, Nathan shoved the pictures into his husband’s hand, eyes pleading. “I just don’t feel good. I want to go home.”

While Naruto was distracted by worry for her younger blonde husband, Stefan snuck a peek at what Nathan had shoved into his hands, and felt a chill crawl over his body. “Okay, Koi, we can go home.”

“But I don’t wanna go home,” Narue wailed from Nathan’s shoulder. “I want pizza! You promised us pizza! Mommy!”

Little Sasuke stayed silent, curious black eyes watching all three of his parents.

“Shhh..” Naruto soothed her daughter softly. She stopped stroking Nathan’s face to take the little girl back. “We’ll order some from home, darling. Come on, Daddy doesn’t feel good. Let’s get him home and into bed, hmmm?”

The ride home was made with Naruto leading the children in some silly song, making them smile and giggle. Nathan ordered pizza to be delivered as they went, his voice shaky. Stefan drove, catching Nathan’s anguished eyes occasionally.

As soon as they got home, Naruto took the kids, and trundled them off to bathe while they waited for the pizza to arrive.

“Spill it,” Stefan said softly as soon as they were alone.

In a trembling voice, Nathan told him what he knew, as the older dark haired man stared down once more at the pictures he’d been given. He was finally able to look at them thoroughly.

“This is Naruto as a girl, alright. There’s no doubt about that. But I never posed for these pictures, and all of them are too old for Sasuke.” Stefan said slowly.

“Don’t you understand?” Nathan hissed, trying to keep his voice low. “It’s him. It’s ‘that’ Sasuke. He’s real! He’s come to take Naruto away from us! We can’t let that happen!

“Slow down, Koi. Relax. No one’s going to take her away from us. Now, take a deep breath, and tell me, word for word, what ‘Sasuke’ said.”

Nathan did so, slowly, with some gentle guidance from his husband. Then Stefan was silent a long moment as he digested what he’d learned. Then he called Jason’s cell phone, and got that man’s take on what had happened.

Naruto and the kids came downstairs at this point, and the men had to keep silent, and tried to act nonchalant. Stefan, of course, managed it with relative ease, but Nathan was so nervous, so jumpy, and so affectionate with Naruto, that she began to get suspicious.

“You’re not sick at all, are you,” she accused gently as soon as Nathan finally stopped kissing her for a second. “You just want to get into my pants.”

“You know it, babe,” Nathan said recklessly, sliding his hand under her skirt and into her panties.

Naruto gasped, then giggled. “Koi… the kids are watching…”

Sasuke and Narue were giggling, eyes dancing. Their daddy’s randy and uninhibited actions were not at all unusual, to both Naruto’s and Stefan’s chagrin. But both children found it comforting to see the obvious love and passion between all three of their parents.

The doorbell rang. Stefan touched Nathan’s shoulder. “Go get the food, loverboy. Mama will still be here later for all your lascivious attention.”

Laughing, Nathan did so, bring trailed eagerly by two very hungry, pizza deprived children.

As soon as they were out of sight, Stefan startled Naruto by seizing her into his arms, and kissing her as desperately as Nathan had.

“Why… why... Stefan…” She half gasped, half moaned, melting into his arms and kiss as she had her blonde husband’s. Though Stefan was no less passionate with her than Nathan was, he was usually more reserved about it, saving his wanton behavior for behind closed doors.

“You’re ours,” he told his beautiful wife in a fierce whisper as soon as their clinging lips parted moistly. “Ours. And no one will take you away from us.” He had time for one last hard kiss, befuddling Naruto further, before Nathan danced into the room with two children, each holding a pizza box triumphantly.

“Let’s dig in!” Nathan caroled, pausing to give Stefan a naughty wink. Swollen lips were hard to miss. He could barely wait until the kids were tucked into bed and he could take his wife and husband to their own bed. God, all three of them were going to get it tonight, believe it!