Embracing Dreams

Warnings: violence, dialogue, bits of shounen ai, camoes

Part 31

It took time for Naruto to get into the fight. He wasn't angry. He'd always lashed out due to anger, hurt, repaying a wrong done to him. Without that requisite anger he was hesitant, awkward, he worried about consequences and motives. Sasuke was upset, had been since he'd met him in the field. Being caught by Ino's and Shikamaru's talents had only made it worse. Naruto's instinct was to comfort. He wanted to help, not to hurt.

It wasn't until they hit the fields that he realized Sasuke wanted this fight as much as Kyuubi did. He could have outrun them. He could have stayed at the house instead of taunting Kyuubi to follow him. What he'd done was wave a red flag at the bull and he was grinning. When Kyuubi didn't attack the second he turned to face them, he laughed. Naruto was struck by the stunning realization that he didn't understand either of them. In that moment he felt completely left out and it hurt.

"Don't be a pussy, Naruto. How do you expect to keep him on a leash if you don't let him stretch his legs now and then?"

"Don't talk through me," Kyuubi growled. Yet he made no move to attack. Naruto didn't understand why.

'It's no use if you're going to cry about it,' Kyuubi spat at him.

'I'm not crying!'

'You might as well be. Don't you get it? This is comfort for him. He doesn't want to be pet and protected and weak.'

'I know that.' He did. And he knew it was wrong. 'It's not healthy.'

Kyuubi snorted. 'If he enjoys rough sex are you going to refuse to give him any because it's not healthy?'

'This isn't like that!'

'Yes it is. This is exactly like that. Look at him, brat. Look. Is he eager to fight or to fuck?'

He looked. If he'd been in control of his body he'd have been shivering and hard instantly. It was Sasuke's eyes, his smile, a sly taunting smile that made him wonder, frantically, if he weren't just as sadistic as Kyuubi. Sasuke looked ready to pounce and Naruto suddenly wanted him to.

Kyuubi made a rumbling noise of contempt. 'Be glad I'm here. If you let him take you down that easily, he wouldn't want anything to do with you.'

"Well?" Sasuke prompted.

Kyuubi grinned. That was the only warning he gave before attacking. Rather than dodging, as he'd expected, Sasuke twisted to the side, his sword flashing from one hand to the other before nearly decapitating them. Kyuubi caught it in his palm, hissing as it bit into bone. His flash of satisfaction that Sasuke wasn't holding back was marred when Sasuke sneered at him.

"Shield, Naruto! You have energy for a reason. Use it!"

"Stop talking through me!" Kyuubi bit out. His fist closed on the blade and when his claws chipped rather than penetrating the metal, he simply wrenched it out of Sasuke's grip. His hand shot out and Sasuke flitted out of range. Using the sword to extend his reach, he sent fiery red energy slashing after him. Again, he evaded. "Don't you want your toy back?"

Sasuke's hand whipped out, fingers splayed, and threads wrapped around the handle of the sword. Sparking electricity flowed along them, but Kyuubi let go before it could reach him. With a yank, Sasuke sent the sword sliding off into the grass. "I don't know how to use it, anyway," he admitted.

'He's so damned cocky!' Naruto grimaced.

'Tell me about it,' Kyuubi growled. He crouched low to the ground, energy billowing, singing away at the grass around him. Sasuke darted at him and he leaped to the side. It was a feint. Threads rippled up from the grass, lashing around one of his ankles and cutting in deep. Kyuubi reached out and tangled a fistfull of them in his claws before Sasuke could pull on them and finish the cut.

"What are you doing in there, Naruto," Sasuke hissed, contempt twisting his face. "Do you want your feet cut off? Shield, you moron!"

'I'm trying, bastard!' Naruto yelled, forgetting that Sasuke couldn't actually hear him. 'I don't know how!'

'If he keeps talking through me, I'm going to kill him,' Kyuubi warned.

'Now you know how I feel.'

Electricity sped along the threads. This time he couldn't simply let go. It caught him head on and if his teeth hadn't been clenched, he might have howled. Naruto, who wasn't quite close enough to the front to feel the pain, pulled on their energy. He didn't know how the hell shielding worked. He could only assume it had to do with condensing the energy. He tried to do that. But instead of pulling tight and thick, it exploded in eye-watering waves of red. Kyuubi ignored Naruto's apologetic yelp.

The threads had ignited. On the other end of those threads, Sasuke took the brunt of it and was thrown backward. Kyuubi didn't give him a chance to recover. He reached him before he could get to his feet. Sasuke's arms flew up and Kyuubi felt the impact his fist made shudder back along his arm, all the way to the back of his neck. Having been knocked to the ground again, Sasuke dropped his arms and suddenly there was a ball of fire heading right for Kyuubi's face.

'Stop, drop and roll!' Naruto yelled.

'I know,' snapped Kyuubi. He hadn't jerked to the side fast enough. His left sleeve had caught blaze. He dropped, rolling to snuff the fire, and then kicking when he found Sasuke right above him. Sasuke blocked with one arm and again Kyuubi could feel the impact echo all the way through his leg. Sasuke landed a kick of his own that threatened to cave in his rib cage. Kyuubi ignored the pain, leaving his energy to handle the damage. He caught Sasuke's leg and jerked him off his feet. As he went in for the kill, Sasuke's left arm erupted in chirping silver currents. He caught himself mid leap and sent a wave of energy at him instead. It was cleaved by Sasuke's arm, cut neatly in half, the two impacts digging into the ground on either side of Sasuke's head.

Sasuke rolled to the side, hissing when his skin made contact with the singed ground. His elbow struck the sword he'd flung aside earlier. He snatched it up, pivoting to face Kyuubi's immediate lunge. Sparks flew as the sword with cut through the thick red energy, slicing off the longest of Kyuubi's claws.

Kyuubi jerked back just long enough for the claws to regrow. His energy flared. Then he heard it. Fast movement wisping through the grass, cloth flapping. Behind him. He whirled and caught a glimpse of a dark figure rushing toward him and then Sasuke was between them, another sword clashing with his own.

.-.

Kakashi had expected them to end up at Caldina's place again. Instead, Tiedoll took them to a coffee shop down the street from it. It was a cheery little place, brightly lit and surprisingly busy. The old man led them to a booth in the back and insisted they order before he began.

"I'm part of an organization that monitors and controls mutant activity. My role is to investigate and record. I'm sure you've noticed that many mutants consider themselves above the law. They are. The only military faction capable of dealing with powerful mutants is Oz and, frankly, they're not going about it very well. They're more interested in catching rebels and teenagers than going after the actual criminals. Not that they could handle them if they did try. No, I'm afraid it's up to us to control each other."

"And how is that working out for you?" asked Kakashi.

Tiedoll ignored the sarcasm. "You might be surprised. The key is to know which individuals other mutants flock to. Oh, you'll have your rogues," and he smiled at Kakashi, "but even they tend to seek out their own kind. The problem is that they don't coexist well. Once they reach a certain level their inclination to find companions of equal strength leads to power struggles. You're far more likely to find an S class mutant surrounded by B level underlings than to see two A classes together. The rare exceptions are what we look for. They're the ones who change the future."

"What do you do when you find them?" asked Iruka.

"Monitor and record, in order to plot how they will influence future events. At the moment we're tracking three possible futures, two of which are dire."

"Fortune telling?" Iruka demanded. His expression was bordered on disdain. "I don't believe in that."

Kakashi looked over in surprise. "You're a skeptic? A mutant who doesn't believe in mutant powers?"

"Abilities, yes," Iruka frowned. "But not fate. If one could see the future then that would mean the future is already determined. In which case, even knowing the future wouldn't enable one to change it. There would be no point to living at all."

"I agree," Tiedoll said quickly. "To date, we have never found a mutant who could accurately see into the ultimate future. The closest we've come is a young mutant who has visions of possible futures. Three possibilities for each mutant she forecasts. By making her aware of as many mutants as possible, and their connections to each other, we've been able to identify which futures coincide and eliminate the others. Mind you, even the final three we've identified remain possibilities only. As you said, there is no single ultimate outcome. That leaves room to promote the most positive future and to intervene to shift or forestall the negative ones."

Iruka was shaking his head. Tiedoll leaned closer, his tone earnest. "Please hear me out. It isn't just the future she sees, but also the present and the past. By knowing an individual and the choices he makes in a given situation, you can predict his reactions in future situations. Even if she couldn't see the future, her predictions would still be more accurate than your average weather forecast." He flashed a smile. "We don't take anything on face value. There is a lot of computing involved and we leave plenty of room for variations. Wild cards, we call them. Individuals who could, for good or bad, throw all of our predictions out the window."

"Then what?" prompted Kakashi.

"Why, then we begin again, incorporating the new variable into our system to identify the effect on the future."

Iruka sighed. "If they exist, whether they're identified or not, then they affect the future - whether they're identified or not. So unless you can identify them all, the future you plot will always be off."

"Exactly," beamed Tiedoll.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"You are a wild card. We've been following two S class mutants who have a significant effect on the future, partly because of their connection to each other - a rare occurrence given the level - and partly because both have connections to mid-level mutants around the world. When we saw that the two were going to converge for the first time in six years, naturally we investigated. What we found was you. Your house. It isn't included in any of our predictions. Because we can't see you, we can't see the mutants around you, and the collective effect you will have on the future. Now that I'm here, I realize there is at least one other wild card in addition to you. I can't emphasize how rare that is. What I would like is your permission to investigate this further."

"Meaning what, exactly?" asked Kakashi.

"I would like to have a student of mine stay in the house for the next week, so we'll have a first-hand account of what happens there."

"No," Iruka blurted. "I opened my house to shelter kids. I don't want to be involved in some...organization, whatever your motives are. It has nothing to do with me."

"I'm sorry," said Tiedoll, "but by sheltering Uchiha Sasuke, you've gotten involved. Unless you can get him out of your house and out of this country - within the next few days - you will be involved. All three futures show the convergence happening here, because of him. Not even the presence of two wild cards can halt that now that it's already in motion."

"So his brother is one of the S class guys you've been following," said Kakashi.

"Yes."

"Then I guess we'll be cutting our visit short."

"No!" Iruka cried. "Naruto would never forgive me! I wouldn't forgive myself. Besides, you said his brother didn't involve bystanders."

"Not as far as I know, but-"

"We don't see any evidence that he'll start now," Tiedoll assured them. "The problem isn't direct harm that he'll cause, it's the repercussions. Simple contact with him has been known to cause radical shifts in the lives of mutants. For instance, you," he nodded to Kakashi, "were never predicted to keep company with anyone or to stay in one place for more than a month. Now all three futures show you staying in this country for at least a year."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Proof that your predictions are completely off."

"If they are," Tiedoll frowned, "it will be because of your contact with Umino-san and the other wild card living with him. Until you arrived here, your actions have been exactly as predicted, including your sudden appearance on the mutant registry. We've been unable to identify who placed you on the list, but we knew exactly when you would be added. Two of the futures now show you being removed within the next week, the other has you staying on it and rising rapidly."

Kakashi hummed, more amused than anything. "Who's the other S class mutant coming here?"

"No one you've had contact with. None of the futures show you ever having direct contact with him. Unless one of the wild cards here intervene, he won't have contact with anyone except his own people and Uchiha Itachi."

"Getting Sasuke out of here would take care of all of that," said Kakashi.

Tiedoll spoke up before Iruka could protest. "You can't. If you tried, there are already mutants here who would stop you."

"Really. Do any of your futures show me trying?"

"Yes," Tiedoll said soberly.

"And what happens?"

"They destroy the airport, killing hundreds of innocent humans and one young mutant who'd already suffered too much to have his life cut so short."

"What's his name?" Iruka demanded. "The mutant."

"Hyuuga Neiji."

.-.

Kyuubi was in a bubble. He was raging and bordering on blind panic. Naruto wasn't faring much better. He couldn't believe Sasuke had done it. As panicked as Sasuke had gotten at being restrained, he should have been the last person to do that to someone else. Yet here they were, trapped, enclosed, and none of Kyuubi's attempts to puncture it were working.

The attacker had targeted them. After ordering them back to the house - insulting Kyuubi's strength and effectively ensuring that he wouldn't go anywhere - Sasuke had deflected two more attacks. It wasn't until he'd used the bubble that the swordsman finally focused on him. He was young, in his late teens or early twenties. He had at least three inches on Sasuke, with black hair held in a high tail, the ends of which dangled past his waist. He wore a long black coat that billowed when he moved and was armed with a dark slender smooth-handled blade, which he wielded with deadly proficiency. If Naruto hadn't been furious at having been trapped, and afraid of Kyuubi's growing panic, he would have been worried about Sasuke.

'Kakashi said you have to pop it. Use your claws to stab, not slash.'

Kyuubi paid no attention. He'd been clawing and slashing, simply raging away, from the moment they'd been contained. With every second that passed, his thoughts made less sense, getting further away. Naruto forced himself to remain calm. Someone had to think rationally. If Kyuubi was losing it, that meant he absolutely couldn't.

He eased forward, but not enough to take control. Kyuubi didn't seem to hear him. If he did take control now, Kyuubi would respond to it as a threat. The last thing Naruto wanted was to fight with his fox right now. They'd done that before. It was messy, accomplished nothing, and it would take them so deep into the back of his mind that they'd have no idea what was happening outside them.

Focusing on his right arm, he imagined it was injured. He could feel the itchy burn as his energy moved to the spot. Not the fiery kind that had exploded on him earlier, but the healing kind he couldn't see. The arm jerked, claws twitching inward, and Kyuubi froze. His shoulders remained hunched, defensive, but he was paying attention now.

'What are you doing?'

'I don't know,' Naruto admitted. 'Kakashi said you have to pop it. Clawing isn't working. It has to be hard, sharp and hard enough to punch through.'

Kyuubi's eyes snapped shut. He remained like that for a long while, muscles trembling, breaths coming in furious bursts. Then he grinned. 'Thinking rationally, brat?'

'Yeah,' Naruto shrugged. 'One of us has to.'

'Better than last time,' Kyuubi huffed. 'With Iruka.'

Naruto's resolve tightened, closing like steel bands around his shoulders and back. He could almost see it. 'That will never happen again. We're too dangerous to lose control. There's no point getting out of here if we lose ourselves doing it.'

'He shouldn't have caged you.'

'Or you,' said Naruto. 'I know. We'll tell him that when we get out of here.'

'Can we?'

Kyuubi was controlling himself, waiting, looking to him. That show of confidence was enough to make him heady. 'Of course we can. I've just gotta start thinking like a disembodied fox.' He shook himself and then looked up at the top of the bubble, then higher at the sky above. He could see Sasuke fighting in the distance, darting in to a clash of metal and then away again. Was he still in the bubble? Was he? 'Kyuubi?'

'I can't go,' Kyuubi growled. 'If you float off, I can pull you back. If we both go, this body will die.'

'Why would it? Ino left hers. It was still waiting when she came back. But we do need something to hop into.' He was outside the bubble. He was sure of it. Looking down, he could see it, almost feel the smooth surface. What was it made of? He was standing on it. No, he shifted, sitting on it. It was so smooth, so perfectly round on top, that if he wasn't careful he'd slip right off and land in the grass. Suddenly he felt giddy, rolling in possibilities regardless of what was happening at the moment. A low growl from Kyuubi brought him back to earth, if not quite literally.

"Woah! What's with the pink beach ball?"

Naruto whipped around and had to scramble not to fall off the bubble. He still couldn't see his body, if he even had one, but his sense of balance told him his seat was a precarious one. Two people had approached while they were distracted. One was the orange-haired boy with the camera, Lavi. The other was a smaller white-haired teen with strange marks on his face. He remembered Sasuke's warnings. The boy's hair was too short to be the doctor, but he could have been the other one, the flunky. 'I knew it!' Naruto yelled, glaring at Lavi. 'You are FS, aren't you!'

They didn't see or hear him. They were looking at Kyuubi and the bubble. The white-haired one reached out a red hand that appeared to be covered in tiny scales and touched the bubble. With a yelp, he was thrown clean off his feet.

"Damn," Lavi exclaimed. "What is that thing? Are you trapped in there? Need some help?" He was addressing Kyuubi as if he didn't even notice his slashing energy and bared teeth.

'Ask him to pop it,' said Naruto. 'Find out what they're doing here.'

'It's obvious what they're doing here,' Kyuubi spat. 'They're with him,' and his gaze snapped to the two fighting across the way. 'They have the same reek.'

"I've never heard anything about this," Lavi was saying, circling the bubble with care not to actually touch it. "The little Uchiha did this?" He shot a look at his companion, who'd gotten back to his feet.

"There's no record of him having a talent like this," the other one said. "He's never used it in any of Lenalee's visions. He must have gotten it from a wild card."

"Think Kanda could pop it?"

"Not a chance."

"Damn," Lavi breathed. He flashed an impressed grin at Kyuubi. "And you can't get out of it?"

Kyuubi snarled, his face so distorted Naruto barely recognized it as his own. His energy flared, curling wildly all along the inside of the bubble. Naruto hissed and squirmed as the top heated beneath him. 'You're going to burn me, Kyuubi!' He caught himself the moment he said it. Kyuubi caught it, too. The fox's head snapped back to look up at him. Naruto held his breath. 'Can you see me?'

'I see something...'

The two strangers followed Kyuubi's gaze. The marks on the white-haired boy's face glowed and his left eye filled with red. He immediately backed away, pulling the other one with him.

"What do you see?" asked Lavi.

"Trouble."

"Ah, hell..." Lavi threw his hands up. "See? This is why I don't deal with wild cards. Get in, get her done, get out. They just have to over-complicate everything! Remind me why I do this?"

"To keep Kanda from killing the wrong person?"

"Right..."

Sasuke was aware of the new arrivals, but he didn't have time to care. He and Kakashi had dome everything in their power to breach that shield from the outside. Nothing worked. Naruto would be safe as long as he lived to let him out when this was over. He would. His opponent was the one Kabuto had warned him about. He was faster than him, stronger, and undeniably skilled with his weapon of choice. But he wasn't fighting to kill and that gave Sasuke all the edge he needed.

He set out to match him, staying on the defense. He copied everything, learning the swordplay so he could deflect and duplicate each attack. He remained one step behind, forced to shield each time he was struck with something new. His opponent delivered those 'surprises' with visible contempt. If Sasuke hadn't been experienced at fighting losing battles, he might have been enraged by the guy's attitude toward him. Instead, he let himself be toyed with, looked down on. He was learning from this, improving. The longer it went on, the more convinced his opponent was that Sasuke posed little challenge and absolutely no threat to him. His mistake was over confidence. Sasuke had learned that lesson a long time ago.

He waited till the guy repeated one of the moves Sasuke had already learned to deflect. Sasuke reacted the same, sword angled across his chest to take the impact and shove away afterward. Except this time when it came he laced his blade with currents and added an enforced left-handed blow to the midsection. He felt bones crack before the guy was thrown backward. For a moment he lay where he'd fallen. Sasuke knew better than to press the advantage. The fight so far had been nothing but energy enforced strength and speed. There was no telling what his actual talent was.

The teen rose to his feet, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. He looked at the blood there. Then he spoke for the first time. "Can you fight?" He grinned and moved his sword behind his back. His other hand followed. When he brought them forward again, he had two identical swords, the hilts connected by a visible chain of white energy. He came, faster than before, and now Sasuke was truly on the defensive.

He blocked blow after blow, using both hands to keep his grip on the sword. He'd used too much energy taking Kyuubi's attacks. Now he used just enough to keep the blade from breaking. It wasn't enough to keep the weapon from being knocked away. With a grin, his opponent swooped down on him. He caught one blade in each hand. They were reinforced with something not unlike his own electrical current. The energies clashed and singed them both. They recoiled and Sasuke spewed fire at him. The swords crossed, slicing through the flames just as his own chidori had cut Kyuubi's energy earlier.

When the swords came down, the mutant changed. His energy flared white around him, flowing down the length of the swords until they looked like white fiery wings on either side of him. Black vein-like tendrils crept up to the edge of his face and marks appeared in his eyes. In that instant, they looked just like the sharingan.

Sasuke didn't realize he was summoning a chidori, pouring all of his energy into it with no thought of defense. Kakashi might have been proud. He was only aware of those eyes. Then his opponent moved and they were rushing toward each other.

.-.

Since Tiedoll had deliberately gotten them away from the house, Kakashi did his part to keep them away as long as possible. Something was happening there, undoubtedly with Sasuke right in the thick of it. They could have gone right back, let Iruka worry and possibly even go looking for the kid, could have gotten caught up in the mess. The fact was, everything he knew about Sasuke told him the less other people interfered, the less harm came to them and to Sasuke himself. The kid's method of dealing was to get it over with as little fuss as possible and then forget about it. The last thing he'd need or want was a concerned Iruka fluttering around him. That his detour of choice just so happened to result in a tipsy Iruka was simply a perk of being such a considerate person.

"They have no right," Iruka was saying, his eyes stormy as he stared into his drink. "Investigating? Prying is more like it. Sticking their nosy little fingers into other people's business is more like it. So what if there are a limited number of futures? What gives them the right to decide for everyone else which future is best? And that 'we just want to record' bit! If he hadn't came, then you wouldn't have considered rushing Sasuke out of here, so the business with the airport wouldn't even be a possibility! The fact that they saw that as a potential future proves the predictions are based on their own interference, dependent on their own interference! Who's to say things wouldn't be just fine if they'd stayed out of it? They can't say! Because their own involvement is requisite in order for them to say anything!"

"You're getting too worked up over this," said Kakashi. "If you don't want involved, turn the kid away when he gets here."

"Just like that?"

"Why not?"

Iruka waved his hand with a humorless laugh. "Why not, indeed." He sobered just as quickly, his tone far too casual. "Did you by chance notice he didn't say anything about the 'control' portion of their organization? Why do you think that is?"

Kakashi hummed, pretending to actually think about it. "Because you're a nice caring fellow who wouldn't want to hear all the messy details of the mutants they kill?"

"There you have it. If I had refused, what do you think they'd have done?"

"Nothing," Kakashi smiled. "Nothing at all. You had me there to protect you."

"Oh, but to hear him tell it, they know everything about you. Staying for a year? So much for our fling. And here I had such plans for this evening..."

Kakashi almost jumped over the table. "Now hold on. I think we've established that these guys are nutjobs. The fact that they're voluntarily messing with Sasuke's brother - the ultimate nutjob, trust me - proves their nutjobness. I may not have any visions of the future, but I know mutants, nutjobs included. These guys talk big, and there may be some truth to what they say, but they're playing with fire. There are mutants out there...who make Sasuke's brother look like a sweet little puppy. They're probably watching these guys right now. Like he said, we mutants deal with our own. If they want to go around playing God, well...let's hope they enjoy their moment in the spotlight. It'll be brief."

They sipped at their drinks for a while. Eventually, Iruka sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I don't want one of them in my house."

"Do you want me to find that guy and tell him you changed your mind?"

"Yes," Iruka admitted. "But don't. He said after this one week, they wouldn't bother anyone in the house again. Better to get it over with..."

Kakashi rose and moved his chair so they were next to each other. He rubbed a hand on Iruka's shoulders and frowned when he seemed to wilt at the contact.

"You know," Iruka started, "when I came up with this idea, I thought the only people I'd have to worry about were bigots and bill collectors. I went to-" He winced. "I took measures to ensure that military factions that OZ wouldn't even glance this way. I thought Bunchu would be here to help with any mutant troubles, before anyone even moved into the house. If he were here, this wouldn't be happening."

"I'm here," Kakashi frowned.

Iruka took one look at him and laughed so hard he almost spilled his drink. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, "but-" He glanced over and had to muffle another laugh. "You look so insulted."

"I am," Kakashi muttered.

"I didn't mean it that way," said Iruka. "Honestly. I'm sure you can be dependable...if you tried really, really hard." He snickered. "But you have nothing in common with Bunchu. He's one of a kind."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" That sent Iruka into another fit of laughter. Kakashi took his drink away before he could spill it all over himself. "I think you've had enough."

Iruka came down with a little sigh. He leaned back, bumping shoulders with Kakashi. "Take me home?"

"I can do that."

.-.

When Sasuke's sword was knocked away, Kyuubi roared. Naruto froze. The two strangers reacted a moment later, their tones impossibly casual and completely inappropriate.

"They're going to kill each other," the white-haired one remarked.

"Ah, hell," Lavi groaned.

The two took off running across the field. Naruto followed them without a moment's thought. The white-haired one got there first. His arm deformed into something huge and pale, slamming into the black-clothed teen and pushing him clear.

Sasuke skidded to a halt, his expression vaguely confused. Then he spotted Naruto and his mouth dropped open. He took one step toward him and stopped. "Naruto...?"

"Damn moyashi!" The swordsman shoved his way up. He lurched toward Sasuke, only to have his way blocked by Lavi. "Out of the way!"

The white-haired one rushed to block him as well. Both hands were normal size again and held out to either side of him. "You test," he said quickly. "That's all. Test, not kill."

"Or be killed by him," muttered Lavi. He received a vicious glare and winced away.

Naruto edged toward Sasuke. The chidori had faded, but Sasuke was still staring at him with the strangest expression, lost, confused. He wished they were alone so he could hug him, kiss him, tell him everything was going to be okay. A raged roar brought him back to his senses.

"Let me out!"

Naruto looked behind him. He would have fallen over if Sasuke hadn't suddenly been there to catch his shoulders. The bubble was still there. Kyuubi was still trapped within it. And he looked very unhappy about it. Naruto gaped. The hands on his shoulders gripped tightly for a second, then the bubble faded away. Kyuubi immediately charged toward them.

So much for the shield, Sasuke thought. He stared at the two Naruto's. Aside from the eyes, teeth, and wild energy Kyuubi was manifesting, they were identical. He couldn't tell which was real. Or were they both real? Had they split apart or was this something else? One of the newcomers was speaking to him. Sasuke snapped to attention.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," the white-haired boy said. "We're only here to test you. Kanda was a little too eager, is all." A growl answered that. "I was supposed to get here first so we could introduce ourselves and ask for a quick spar."

"Spar," muttered Lavi. "Not a knock-down drag-out kill-each-other fight."

"We're part of an organization that-"

"I don't care," said Sasuke. "He attacked Naruto."

Lavi's eyes widened and he rounded with a reproachful, "Kanda!"

"He was in my way," the black-haired teen sneered.

"We don't deal with wild cards," Lavi scolded. "You know better than that."

"I'm very sorry," the white-haired boy said, earnestly. "We have no intention of making an enemy of you. We simply wanted to test you and make sure that-"

"It was a waste of time," Kanda interrupted. He sheathed his now-solitary sword and sent a long look at the two Naruto's, a suggestive look that made Sasuke want to attack him again. The sneer he gave Sasuke told him it was intentional. "It will be years before you're good enough to be useful." He turned and walked away.

"Really," the apologetic boy started again, shifting to catch Sasuke's eye. "We didn't mean any harm. We just wanted to make sure you weren't another Itachi. With all the sociopaths running around, one insane Uchiha is more than enough."

"Are you the ones who killed his people in Japan?" asked Sasuke.

The boy flinched back with a wounded look. "Only the crazy ones. Itachi did the rest of it on his own."

"Why?"

"Maybe because you're already stronger than them. Maybe because he was bored with them and had nothing better to do. He is insane, right?"

The two turned to go. Sasuke took a step after them. "You don't stand a chance against him."

The orange-haired boy glanced back, grinning. "Neither do you. But that hasn't stopped you, has it?"

Watching them go, Sasuke shook his head in disgust. He wondered what Itachi would do with them. Copy them, kill them, maybe send the swordsman after him again. There was a lot he could learn by fighting him again. That thought brought him back to his own sword. He turned, spotting it in the grass. It was useful. With a little practice-

Naruto interrupted his thoughts with a heavy punch to the face. It knocked him back onto his ass. He sat there stunned, one hand rising to his burning jaw. Naruto stomped toward him. Then the other Naruto, the red-eyed one, grabbed the first and hissed a furious 'Mine!' into his face. The duplicate disappeared in a haze of displaced air. Sasuke started to get up, but Kyuubi pounced, knocking him back and holding him there at full strength.

Kyuubi spoke with cold fury. "Never do that again."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He would do it again. And next time he'd put the duplicate into a protective shield as well. As if reading his thoughts, Kyuubi shook him, violently, before freezing completely. Sasuke was thrown by the erratic behavior.

Suddenly Kyuubi grinned. "Do you remember what I said the last time we were in this position?" Sasuke's mouth shot open. He didn't give him a chance to react. He shoved his head back and to the side and bit him, high on the shoulder, hard and deep.

Teeth clenched tight, Sasuke refused to scream. He coated his hands with energy and raked them across Kyuubi's back, shredding it, drawing more blood than the bite. Kyuubi growled, biting harder, grinding against bone. Sasuke dug his hands deeper for a moment, then his lips curled. He took a deep breath. Seconds later Kyuubi was rolling in the grass, hair singed and the back of his shirt burnt clean away. Then they were staring at each other, dark menacing looks. He wanted to fight him again, all out, until one of them - preferably Kyuubi - was a bloody broken mess. He was seriously considering going for his sword when Kyuubi grinned.

"Rematch?" Kyuubi taunted.

Sasuke sniffed. On second thought, he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of a fight. "Only if you tell me what really happened the first time you woke up."

All expression left Kyuubi's face, though his tone was simple curiosity. "What makes you think I remember more?"

"Because you told Naruto you didn't. And you're a liar."

Kyuubi stared at him for a long time. His expression was calm, studious, making him distinctly nervous. Finally, he gave a toothy grin.

"Another time," Kyuubi drawled. He relaxed, closing his eyes and letting himself fall back into his mind.

Naruto was startled to find himself back in control, just like that. For a moment, he was distracted. 'You remember more than you told me?'

Kyuubi didn't answer. He curled comfortably and sighed. 'Do you still like him?'

'Huh? Why?'

'Because I've decided to keep him,' Kyuubi murmured.

A wave of jealousy swept over Naruto, then confusion at his own possessiveness. He stared at his fox, who was already rumbling his way toward sleep. How could he go to sleep after a comment like that? And they had things to talk about! His own memories were strange. He remembered being in the second body, but he also remembered being trapped with Kyuubi and watching the look-alike run off. He remembered sliding off the bubble and running toward Sasuke, but he also remembered being tugged back into his mind and seeing the body run off without him. It was so strange. He hadn't been aware of anything that second body had done until Kyuubi had grabbed it and somehow made it vanish. Since that moment he'd been aware of both memories and trying to reconcile them was making his head hurt.

Nearby movement caught his attention. Sasuke was pulling on the collar of his shirt, trying to inspect the bite. Naruto cringed as soon as he saw it. His hands curled into fists, but the wasn't about to apologize. Sasuke should never have trapped them like that. He knew as well as Kyuubi that Sasuke had every intention of doing it again. And if he did pull that shit again, he'd let Kyuubi bite him again, even harder.

Despite the anger roiling in his gut, he couldn't help but ask. "Are you okay?" The look Sasuke sent him made him want to punch him again. He crouched down to glare at him instead. "You're a real bastard."

Sasuke's hand shot out, catching him by the hair and pulling him into a brief kiss meant to silence and confuse. It worked perfectly. He immediately shoved Naruto back onto his ass and went over to retrieve his sword.

Glaring, Naruto licked his lips. "A real bastard," he repeated. Then he was up, tackling Sasuke to the ground, kissing him back, and dodging when Sasuke tried to punch him for it. He pulled away and this time they both stayed seated, matching each other glare for glare. "Never do it again, Sasuke."

"I'll do whatever I have to do."

Naruto was reminded of their talk in Sasuke's room. When Sasuke said no to something it was impossible to compromise. His arms curled around his stomach. He was so frustrated. Kyuubi's adrenaline and fear were still coursing through is body. Yes, fear, because in the end Kyuubi had panicked as badly as Sasuke had at being restrained. He crawled toward Sasuke, watching him tense more the closer he got. Preparing himself for something violent because it always came down to violence with him. When they were just inches apart, Naruto stopped. He stared at him, trying to put as much sober determination into his eyes as possible. He knew he'd won when Sasuke was the first to look away.

"If you can master even the most rudimentary defense, I might not have to do it again."

Naruto shook his head, knowing that was as good as he'd get. He leaned forward, kissing his bruising cheek and pulling him into a tight hug. "A real bastard," he sighed. "But you're my bastard."

"Idiot."

.-.
TBC

Next chapter picks up right where this left off. Expect some KakaIru and a little more KyuubiSasuke interraction. Cameo characters in this part are all from DGrayMan, Tiedoll and Lavi showed up earlier, Kanda's the guy with the sword and the attitude problem, and Allen is the white-haired bean sprout (moyashi) whose actual name I couldn't slip into the dialogue. I'm lousy at forcing dialogue. Sorry. ;p