Demons Have the Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale

Hello everyone, it’s Assassin’s Kiss here. I thank those who have reviewed and stuck with this story with barely a complaint. This is dedicated to Ivvy Moon, of course it is and a big shout out to Lady Laran for putting up with my angsting phases. I admit I have a tendency to angst and throw temper tantrums over my fanfics a lot to the point I declare that I’ll quit them when I’m stuck with a nasty bout of writer’s block @_@

I’m so sorry I took so long updating this and on top of that when I did update it a month or so ago I decided to take it down to re-edit, cut and add more things. It’s just I wanted to show you guys my appreciation by giving you most of the trial. I would have given you all but I’m telling you this chapter would have been longer than this <.<; I do hope you enjoy and will be waiting patiently for your reviews cause you know it’s my crack XP

Demons Have the Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale



I guess I’m guilty ‘til proven innocent

And I’ll be gone before they know what I hit em’ with

And this predicament is pure coincidence

Oh, brother here comes another incident



~ Guilty as Charged by Gym Class Heroes



//Recap//

“It was never Iruka and I that you had to be worried about when freeing Naruto,” Kakashi began to speak, turning to face the frightened Itachi will an indifferent gaze. “Everyone, including my Master wants a piece of him but the Council comes first. So how…” he trails off and looks at his former sempai with amusement “…does it feel to be wanted so badly by everyone Naruto?”



“I get all warm and tingly inside just at the thought,” the blonde murmured sneeringly. Then before he could say anything else he, his master and the shinigami holding his leash disappeared in a flare of light to Itachi’s utter horror.



“SSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAASSSSSSSUUUUUUKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ”

Chapter Four: Never Send a Demon to Trial



“Where did that Shinigami take Sasuke,” hissed out Kisame. His Samehada was already pressed against Kakashi’s jugular; the sword biting into tender flesh, even before his master’s cry of dismay had faded the air.

Kakashi seemed to take his time in replying as he carefully inched the sword away from his jugular, a thoughtful look on his face. “Maah, to be honest I have no clue where that Shinigami could have stashed the two. All I know for sure is that the only way we can be certain to find them is if we go to Kyuubi’s hearing,” the headmaster’s demon suggested finally. The hand that wasn’t pushing Samehada away from his throat, gripped his own sword Chidori. He made sure his weapon was pressed warningly against Kisame’s spine as if prepared to sever the skeletal cord if Kisame continued to go on the offensive.



“Kyuubi’s hearing?” Itachi asked, trying to pull himself from the shock and grief that had stricken him so suddenly. He barely even noticed when Kisame had left Kakashi to come to his side in order to pick up his unconscious mother. He was that distracted.



“Was I the only one who was listening? Kyuubi is to be put on trial for the murder of Minato. The fact that this is all happening so quickly only means that we have a mole in our midst. Maybe even the same mole that let in the interrogators that tried to torture Kyuubi into a pointless confession. I know it’s a lot to take in but try to keep up,” Kakashi demanded even as he sheathed his sword.

He knew he shouldn’t be irritated by the boy’s slow processing skills because if he were Itachi then he would have a hard time swallowing this pill too. Not to mention the anxiety and fear he must be feeling in his desperate need to find a way back to his brother. But since Itachi had sent his Iruka into seclusion, which was still a bit of a sore spot for him, he could have couldn’t care less right at that moment if he came off irritable and hostile.



“How do we make sure that we get permission to go to this hearing?” Kisame requested before his master could take offence to the harshness of Kakashi’s words. He frowned disapprovingly at the demon even as he stepped forward a bit as if he would shield his Master from the negative words.



“We go to see Iruka of course. He hasn’t become the headmaster for nothing without at least obtaining some clout, even beyond that of the prestigious Uchihas’ in some areas,” Kakashi said with glowing pride for his master. He quickly began to move to inform Iruka of the new developing events while the ragtag group behind him gathered up those who could not walk and followed behind. But he didn’t wait for them to catch up to him. Instead he moved a bit faster than normal because secretly he wanted to take comfort in the presence only his brunette could offer.



BARELY FOUR MINUTES LATER, INSIDE IRUKA’S BEDROOM



“Iruka?”



“I’m already up. I didn’t even bother trying to go to sleep,” the brunette murmured smoothly even as he settled the phone onto the cradle. He had given the deputy headmistress a cursory call to inform her of Kyuubi’s return. But now he wondered if that was a good idea to get the hot headed woman involved, especially when it came to matters of getting what she considered her ‘son’ back. But it was clearly out of his hands now, Iruka tried to reassure himself of that fact even as he remained with his back facing the door. He already knew who was calling him so he just focused on tying his tie properly before strong, capable hands took over the task.



“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” Kakashi said as he straightened the tie he had just knotted before reaching over on the bed to present his master with his suit jacket. As he retrieved it, he noticed the official letter of the government open and forgotten for the moment on the bed. It was clear then, if it wasn’t before, that Iruka had found out already that Kyuubi was going to trial.



“I know I don’t but I need to see this through to the end, Koi. Closure… I… I need closure so I can finally put the past firmly in the past,” Iruka insisted even as he placed one arm inside the sleeve before inserting the other arm in the unoccupied opening.



“I know that… I… The last time you reacted to his nearness—” Kakashi began hesitantly, frowning at the young man’s back. No matter how he felt about Kyuubi, there was no way in the seven hells he would let his Master anywhere near that demon. Not after last time andnot when he knew how little the blonde valued other lives.



“It’ll be okay. I won’t let him that close again. I should have known how his presence would affect me. But I was too eager to show him that I grew stronger despite him. I wanted to prove that I was no longer that little boy.” Iruka inserted gently even as he reached back to tie up his chocolate locks into a ponytail.



“You must definitely aren’t a little boy,” murmured Kakashi in a growling purr. He ran his capable fingers down his lover’s sides, enjoying the way the brunette shivered before leaning back against him. He was already making quick work of undoing the buttons to his mint green dress shirt as he continued. “I wouldn’t feel quite right having the kind of thoughts I’m having for you right now if you were,” he admitted amiably.



“Naughty ones?” questioned Iruka, smiling in his amusement. He could already feel his demon’s arousal pressing against his backside.



“The best kind,” Kakashi agreed as he nuzzled the side of his neck. He wondered if it wasn’t too late for a possible quickie before the trial; but already he could feel a hand slapping his hands away from untucking the headmaster’s shirt from his pants. “It’s almost too hard to believe that all of this has taken place in the span of a single day. My old sempai really does know how to make an entrance,” he mused aloud, his pride more wounded than his hand.



“Is that admiration that I detect in your voice?” the brunette teased, his brow raised in amusement as he began to button his shirt once more. It was clear that both his Guardian and he had done a bit of hero-worshipping back in the day when they still thought Kyuubi was somewhat good.



“No… Well maybe a little bit but you know I only have eyes only for you,” he murmured in a playful, chuckling tone.



“I’m sorry to interrupt but we have more important matters to attend to. Or have you forgotten in the short time it took for you to abandon us in the dungeon in favor of your libido?” Itachi asked dryly, announcing his presence. He stood with his shoulder leaned against the door frame to the open door, a permanent scowl of disapproval across his face as he looked at his two least favorite people right at that moment.



“You’re a big boy now. I figured you could figure your way back up the stairs and here again. Or was I mistaken just now? Did little Kisame have to hold your hand?” Kakashi questioned sneeringly, finding it more than a bit irritating that Itachi managed to pop up at the least opportune moments.



Itachi opened up his mouth, ready to snap back a ready retort when Kisame quickly cut in. “We would like it if you could take us to the trial, if what you say about Naruto’s whereabouts is true,” Kisame quickly inserted. He didn’t see his master being riled up benefiting anyone but Kakashi, who seemed to take sick pleasure and torturing what was his. The fiend had wanted to attack the scarecrow but he was perturbed by how easily any offense against the silver haired demon was turned into an advantage for Kakashi.



“Of course they are,” snorted Kakashi. He thought it amusing how the Uchihas were willing to doubt his Intel on matters such as Kyuubi just because he yanked their proverbial chains a few times today. It really wasn’t his fault that they were so easily infuriated despite such a serious situation. The fact that he had become a bit colder and sadistic since ‘Little Kakashi’ had been denied his playtime with his favorite brunette over and over again, didn’t even register to the genius demon.



“You have a mirror?” Itachi murmured in genuine surprise. He had suddenly spotted it in the corner of the tidy master bedroom and it dumbfounded him. The Uchiha had truly doubted Iruka’s influence until now because only the most important of individuals could own a portal mirror. It had taken much bribery and wheedling before his father could possess one of his own and even then he only used it for emergencies.



“Of course the school has a mirror. The school and the government are one big happy family that way,” Iruka said cheerfully though his smile didn’t quite reach his warm, chocolate brown orbs. He didn’t look at the older Uchiha male for fear that his displeasure at Itachi doubting him might show on face as he began to stroke the frame of the mirror. The same frame started to crackle with his spiritual energy as it seemed to stream from his fingertips to trickle through every little small crevice, unlocking secret compartments that finally activated the portal.



“By the special invitation of the Council, please take us to the trial of Naruto Uchiha,” Iruka said in an important tone before stepping through the now glowing piece of glass. An involuntary gasp wrenched from his lips as he walked through the clear material as if going through a cold curtain of ice water that deposited him outside an identical looking mirror.



His eyes quickly tried their best to adjust to the dimmer lighting found inside the courtroom. The area he stepped into was huge and appeared circular, although that could have been because of the weak moonlight that streamed down from the ceiling’s circular, domed window. Rows of candelabras divided the room in almost four glowing white parts that stopped just ten feet from the axis of the chambers. There in the center were two identical tables for the persecutor and defense attorneys to sit behind. It was more than three feet from a dark, throne-like chair with wooden thorny vines and roses in every form of creation from bud to explosive life creeping across the dark ebony wood. The majesty of that chair almost completely overshadowed the large podium that the accused would be forced to be chained to until sentencing.



There was a large concave judge’s bench on one side of the room that threatened to encircle the entire room with its majestic greatness. It towered over the jury’s stand of representatives of respected families that were directly opposite of the portal mirror and to the left of the judge’s bench. Iruka had barely enough time to recover from the shock when he found all eyes in the courtroom resting on him.



“The trial will begin shortly Iruka Umino NamiKaze. Please take a seat along with your guests. Mikoto, Itachi and Obito Uchiha, I assume?” addressed a well-dressed woman in a pencil skirt with a tight, hair-scraping bun. She looked with a bored, European air behind the brunette to the three present Uchihas. The woman didn’t even acknowledge their Guardians or even identify them by name like she did the headmaster and his guests. She just began to walk, expecting them to follow her to the seats on the right side of the jury box and the council seats. Her Manolo Blahniks were the only real noise in the room besides the barely their murmur of the jury.



Iruka bowed respectably to the heads of the council who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere to sit back in red wing backed chairs. He barely looked at the jury of representatives whose identities were well hidden by Venetian inspired masks and dim lighting. Its’ purpose there was to protect their identities from the accused in case the person in question somehow managed to escape and tried to seek revenge later on. Iruka gave the jury a bow despite not looking directly at them. It was just shy of being informal before taking his seat as soon as he came to the guest chairs.



Kakashi quickly assumed his respective position standing behind Iruka, hands behind his back. He knew that in this mixed company he had no rights besides that of guarding his master. His eyes quickly scanned the room to pinpoint the exits and the few hired Guardians dispersed around the court room to make sure that everything was secure, not relaxing one iota. It would be foolish to assume that even this courtroom was impenetrable to possible demon attacks, especially when so many high level souls resided within these hollow walls.



Meanwhile Mikoto, who had regained consciousness along with her brother-in-law as soon as the cool liquid of the glass hit them, was just about to take a seat between her son and Iruka when she suddenly paused. She had doubted what she had seen correctly but as she straightened up from her sitting position she was about to assume, she realized she recognized one of the members of the court. The Uchiha matriarch would have known that man, who was standing at the defense attorney’s table, anywhere.



“Fugaku?” Mikoto gasped out, surprised to see her absent husband in this place. And it was clear to all that the head of the Uchiha clan was surprised to see not only his wife but his eldest son and his half brother here at the trial of the century.



“I see that our son’s Summoning Ceremony didn’t go as planned,” he said conversationally to his spouse. He even looked almost apologetic for his absence.

WHERE NARUTO AND SASUKE CURRENTLY ARE

“Why are we here?” Naruto snapped out curtly. The blonde knew this room well enough for the occupants inside of it, though he had never really physically been there. He shifted the sleeping child in his arms so that he wouldn’t see the sight before them if he chose to awaken. There was no need to confuse the human pup anymore than he probably was right now.

“I thought you were taking me into the big, scary courtroom,” he continued on a sneer, red rimmed eyes narrowing at the Shinigami. He did not like where this was going at all.

“You know why we are here,” Ebisu replied simply. He waved a gloved hand carelessly at the two specimens on the floor to include them in the conversation. He had no real love for humans. They were… insolent little children that allowed their human emotions to destroy themselves and he could care less how they ended themselves. But when a demon decides to make his work difficult by contaminating the souls that he was supposed to Sheppard into the afterlife then he had real issues with that.“You broke them,” he murmured in an almost accusing tone.

“Their souls are still usable,” the blonde mused thoughtfully in a neutral, clinical tone. He didn’t even have to look at Ebisu’s fancy, little reaper book to know that the raven haired man was currently looking down at the names of Anko and Ibiki with more than slight suspicion. Probably because they weren’t scheduled yet to die today but already looked as if they were jiggling eagerly at the handle of death’s doorknob.

“Look they even know to be afraid of me,” Naruto cooed out in a pleased tone before he smiled with a show of fanged teeth. His eyes seemed to brighten with pleasure as his two former interrogators quickly scooted across the floor more before curling up on themselves like centipedes trying to make themselves smaller to protect themselves from the unwanted gaze.

“You did this to them,” Ebisu pointed out dryly. There was no doubt in his mind that the blonde had enjoyed torturing the male and female specimens. There was not a bruise shown or a drop of blood shed in the spacious, little safe room with its undisturbed queen sized bed. But there was a strong smell of urine and fear that permeated the room and made him wrinkle his aristocratic nose in distaste. He quickly reached, with a gloved hand, for a crisp, white pocket square to cover his mouth and nose.

FLASHBACK TO THE MOMENT NARUTO FREED HIMSELF FROM THE CHAINS

Just as the first drops of blood dribbled down Naruto’s shredded arms to congeal on the stone floor, shadows had slowly slid up the spiraling staircase to its’ targets. The dark substance, the same substance as the blonde fiend’s tail, moved just as silently and smoothly as silk against skin. It sped eagerly towards its’ appointed targets, thin spikes flying in all directions to peer under doors to find its prize before coming together again. And as soon as it located the designated room, it slipped under the door that tried to bar it with ease before it reformed into the body of one golden haired fiend with glowing red eyes.

“Surprise,” he purred out in a dark, rumbling tone. He licked his lips in anticipation of the screams that would soon be coming from the room. Naruto was going to enjoy paying back his interrogators for their oh-so-loving welcome to the human world.

He looked with greedy eyes at the two occupants of the room who had resigned themselves to sitting on the bed before he intruded on their peace. Anko and Ibiki had quickly stood up, reaching for weapons that had already been confiscated by Kakashi before they entered into the safe room. But before they could even realize their futile move and plan for another means for attack Naruto murmured a word that was as soft and delicate but just as ensnaring as a spider’s web.

“Tsukuyomi.”

FIRST DAY IN HELL

Ibiki and Anko felt like they had been ripped into millions of pieces before being slammed back together again when they found themselves victims of Naruto’s attack. One moment they were standing in the safe room scrambling for a weapon and the next they were hanging erected and strapped against their own personal crosses, several feet in the air. The coarse rope began to dig into their tender wrists as the weight of their own bodies and the iron fetters around their ankles began to drag them downward, straining their arm sockets.

“Such naughty, naughty children you two are,” Naruto tsked softly as he made his presence known. He smiled a predator’s toothsome smile as he stood before Ibiki and Anko. Both heads swiveled to look at the intruder, keeping him in sight, only to immediately recoil back as far as the unforgiving wood would allow when they finally peered into the hungry, unforgiving gaze of the demon’s.

There was such an animalistic and primeval need in those glowing orbs to devour the victims in front of them that they tried pointlessly to strain against the ropes. Their basest desires and instincts were probably telling them to flee from the enemy who would enjoy nothing more than to devour them to their very soul before sucking out the marrow of their bones. But they could do no more than curl their hands into fists as they tried to pull free while trying not to look directly into the eyes of the beast before them.

 “Where are we? Take us down! ” Anko demanded hoarsely, spluttering two commands at once as she realized it was useless to struggle. Her quivering voice seemed so frightened and small that it almost seemed like it didn’t belong to her.

The brunette was in an alien land from what she could see. It was like she was swallowed up by an abyss of nothingness that was so cold and hostile that it tried to tug at her very soul and suck the oxygen out of her lungs. But surprisingly she was still able to breathe and to see by a surprising source.

The water, which lapped greedily at the crosses’ edge and sat with docile calmness under the demon’s feet, shone like the core of a burning supernova. Occasionally the water would spit out glowing bits of burning lights that looked like tiny, jeweled fireflies that would light up a skeletal tree or two in the distance. All of the images combined, revealed to her a barren and cold landscape which made Anko more than eager to return to the safe room that was no longer considered safe.

She wanted to scream in frustration at her utter helplessness and he hadn’t done anything yet. But it was the dreaded anticipation of what was to come that froze her extremities. She tried to speak, to plead her case but her mouth felt too cotton dry and her tongue felt too thick in her mouth to form the necessary words.

 ‘Why… why did I do it?’ she thought frantically to herself, pulse throbbing in her ears. She knew why she did it, had been ordered to, and had taken great pleasure in the task; but her mind couldn’t help but hemorrhage up the same asinine questions as if it was destined to be trapped on constant loop until she found a plausible excuse. Anko tried to close her eyes to help calm her frayed nerves but the image of the fiend in front of her penetrated through even the thin membrane of her eyelids.

Naruto was just as bare and sinewy as the moment he was summoned except for the maroon loincloth draped low across his narrow hips; his bare skin glowed a molten gold that was kissed with red from the rising sparks of fireflies. His reddish-blonde hair was gathered up in a thousand tiny braids that looped and spilled across his noble brow and shoulders with a small, dark bead here and there. Each bicep was encircled with an armlet with ancient script and his palms were stained with henna, whose delicate lines crawled up his arms like tiny fauna trying to tickle his inner elbow.

Anko had noticed the shadow tails that writhed behind his backside like the many arms of a Hindu god as the scene in front of her began to lighten with the aid of a white hot sun rising. Naruto seemed to look down at her and her demon with feign interest. Those kohl lined eyes were just as damning as they were beautiful with the unusual amber orbs nearly being eaten up by the scarlet ring of red. They promised such excruciating pain that she didn’t realize she had been screaming for a while now until he commanded her silence.

Anko didn’t want to be silent but before she could protest or even convince herself that it was in her best interests to obey Naruto, she found her mouth automatically snapping close. It was as if some omniscient person was controlling her. And it was with the realization that she couldn’t even control her own movements, restrained as she was, that made her start to pray for the first time in decades to any God that was out there.

‘Please, oh please God, Allah, whoever is out there… Please… I ca… can’t... Make him go away. I’ll go to church just… Oh God, I’ll give to charity!’ Her mind began to run in dizzying circles as she tried to fight back the panic that seized at her throat. It suddenly made it hard for her to breathe or let out a decent prayer. But her scattered thoughts were soon interrupted by the soft whisper of cloth moving against flesh as the golden demon drew near.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t repay you back for what you two did to me?” he questioned, his voice rumbling in a low timbre. They had no idea… they had no idea of the consequences of stirring the hornets’ nest that was his malevolent intent.

 “W… We wouldn’t, I…if we weren’t ordered t… to. You ha… have to believe,” gasped out Anko, little drops of water running down her cheeks. The female interrogator shed them involuntarily; the tears that she hadn’t let fall since she was a little girl, flowed so freely now so that they tickled down the curve of her cheeks before riding down the bend of her neck.

“Don’t cry Mistress. Don’t you dare let this asshole break you!” Ibiki suddenly roared out with such great emotion and fury that Anko’s head snap suddenly to her left to look at her faithful ‘Guardian’.

 “I… bi… ki,” she breathed out brokenly as she tried to savor the name she had given him so long ago. She had almost forgotten that he was trapped there with her. She felt so alone before but she realized now that she wasn’t alone as her lips tried to half-hazard a wane smile at her loyal servant. ‘Ibiki won’t let me suffer like this,’ she thought with a heady sense of relief that made her feel so giddy.

“You are beautiful, strong and independent Mistress Anko,” insisted Ibiki, encouraged by her shifting focus. He spared a scathingly loathsome glance towards the blonde demon for working his human so easily into frenzy with little to no effort. The old scars on his face puckered as his frown deepen at the cocky smile that spread so easily across Kyuubi’s face. He cursed the demon for acting so arrogantly when the battle wasn’t even won yet.

“This piece of shit that dares to intimidate us should be the one that fears us, not the other way around. We are the best interrogators in all of Konoha. Accused people tremble at our presence when we walk into any room. Our employer at ROOT chose us out of all his other interrogators to see if Kyuubi remembers because he knows we are the best,” murmured Ibiki confidently, dismissing Kyuubi to address his mistress again. “So don’t you dare let him break you…Us!” he growled out warningly, jaw clenching and spasming with his frustration.

Anko blinked tearfully at Ibiki as if recognizing him for the first time before she gathered courage from his words. She straightened herself the best her bindings would allow before she drew out a rueful smile from her corner pocket. It paled in comparison to the lascivious and malicious smiles that she had given Kyuubi when she ordered Ibiki to whip him earlier but it was a start, she hoped, in the right direction. “You are right Ibiki. Why should we worry when the Council will have his head if he even dares to lay a hand on us? We are the untouchables, you and I,” she murmured, savoring the words even as they fell from her lips.

Anko took a deep breath, steeling herself to face Kyuubi before turning to narrow her eyes at the bemused, blonde fiend. “Get us the fuck down before I have Ibiki come down and cut off your goddamn head and shove it up your ass!” She hissed this out vehemently with as much hatred as she could drip into those few words. The brunette was already vowing silently to punish the blonde haired bastard for making her fear something that wouldn’t even dare do harm to her if he knew what was good for him.

Naruto let out a bark of laughter. He couldn’t help it when they strove to tickle his funny bone so with their hopeless nativity and complete ignorance of who they were insulting and trying to intimidate. It was as if they almost forgot who the hell was holding all the goddamn cards in the world he created.

 Sasuke’s ‘Guardian’ nearly doubled over, his hand pressed against his quivering stomach to help ease the pain from laughing so hard until he wiped an imaginary tear away. His lips threatened constantly to twitch upwards in his amusement even as he gave his head a whimsical shake in disbelief. “Well this has proven quite informative as well as entertaining, and we haven’t even fully begun the performance yet,” he chortled as he slowly straightened. Then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye he was on Anko like a hungry wolf on a bone. Her jaw going suddenly numb from the vice like grip he had on her chin.

“Do you kiss your mother with that pretty little mouth of yours?” he breathed out softly in a cordial tone, his voice still tinged with his bemusement. He let out another chuckle as he stood their in midair with only the support of the water under his bare feet that rose to accommodate his need to be at eye-level with his prey.

There was nothing in his eyes that dared Anko to enjoy in his revelry. Quite the contrary as his hungry gaze and suddenly stoic face erased all signs of him finding the entire matter funny. “It’s very shameful I’ve run across so many ignorant meat puppets,” he sighed almost as if he really was ashamed at the sad descent of mankind.

“You knew I am incapable of remembering my past and yet you were too determined and sadistic enough to follow your master’s blinding orders to see reasoning,” he continued admonishingly, only pausing to look at his two specimens with a calculative eye. “Both of you were. But don’t you worry little human, what I do to you now will be our dirty, little secret that no one has to know about,” he offered with a smile that would have been welcoming if it wasn’t so frigid.

“Im… Impossible. I’ll tell them,” she barely managed to gasp out with half her jaw immobilized.

“Oh, by the time I am through with you, you’ll be thankful if you can even remember to swallow your drool,” he mused confidentially to Anko even as he stroked her hair as if she was some kind of overly large rag doll. “And as for them finding a bruise on you…well that’s why I’ve brought you two kiddies here. This place gives me all the liberties of a real torture fest with none of the damnable hiccups of people finding bruises and cuts on your sorry, little hides,” he chirped up brightly despite the severity of his words.

There was such raw honesty and burning need to wreak havoc in those words that Ibiki, nicknamed ‘the human lie detector’, could not detect any falsehood in Kyuubi’s promise. He suddenly began to violently struggle with renewed energy and a wild sense of desperate urgency as he tried to free himself so that he could protect his mistress. But no matter how he tugged and fought past any hiccups on personal injury to his own person in order to escape, the bindings held. There was no way he could escape the ropes around his wrists; they might as well have been made out of ropes of steel for all the give it gave him and his now bloody wrists.

“Before our session is over you will confess to me all that I want to know.” Naruto murmured this out calmly and confidently after he watched Ibiki’s futile attempt to flee, fail miserably. His eyes had bled completely red after smelling the first drop of blood permeating the air. The blonde fiend hungrily licked his lips once more at the sweet acidic taste of horror that seductively teased his senses with its sudden increase in potency It was enough that he could become drunk with the feeling of power it offered if he didn’t watch out.. So with effort he forced himself to reign in his bloodlust in order to continue calmly in his speech.

“And if you don’t give me what I want than I’ll derive great pleasure in ripping the answer from your flesh,” he said in a seductive murmur. He smiled inwardly at how tightly he held the reigns of his self-control in order to wrestle his animalistic instincts back into submission. It would have been a real faux pas to kill prematurely when they were just getting the party started.

His targets, of course, didn’t know his inner struggles as the blonde continued to look at the two clinically; a thoughtful look glazed his eyes as he thought how he should begin first. Then as an idea struck him, his sinful mouth teased into a crooked smile as he drew out a wicked looking nine tailed whip.

With barely a flick of his wrist the sharp, metal bits at the end of the whip cracked and flashed by the light of the water and the sun behind him. But before either Anko or Ibiki could fully realize or appreciate the introduction of their first torturing instrument, Naruto converged on them like a dark cloud, swallowing up the first of many cries of pain.

THIRTIETH DAY IN HELL

“I could give you the best pain you’ve ever had. Do you know that?” Naruto murmured this while caressing Anko’s cheeks with bloody digits that were already dipped liberally in the blood of her ‘Guardian’. Ibiki had dared to talk back to him after some odd days in his personal hell so now the arrogant bastard was now barely conscious with his entrails leaking out of the yawning gash in his abdomen.

He paused in his ministrations to bathe a bit in the whimper that couldn’t help pulling from the woman’s lips. Her body reverberated with the mini seizures after she had been forced to watch her partner be torn to pieces. Then he playfully blew in Anko’s ear, watching as she shrank away from him as far as the unforgiving wood behind her would allow. “It could hurt so good if you’d just let it,” he purred in a dangerously seductive tone before raking his clawed fingers across her belly.

He watched in mesmerized wonder as the claw marks grew and darken to wet scarlet as blood welled eagerly up to the lines made. The neat, little row of wounds weren’t as breathtaking as the lines he had made across his little Master’s abdomen when he possessed him earlier that night. That moment had been breathtakingly beautiful even as he taunted his future in-laws. Wet crimson lines against unblemished cream white; the way it gathered against his wet digits made him want to lap and suck at every digit of his master’s to taste each drop of bittersweet, metallic goodness. But it was the added memory of why he had to possess Sasuke in the first place, to soothe the worried soul of his master, that made him finally snapped and dig his clawed fingers deeper into her flesh then he had before.

 “You made him cry,” he mouthed hotly against the skin of her neck with his warm lips.

“I should be the only one to envelope him in misery but you had to make him cry,” he breathed out pressing his index finger into her mouth as if he wanted her to suck the lone digit to prepare her. But that was obviously far from his intentions as he hooked that clawed finger behind her fleshy bottom lip before dragging it downward to her chin. He nuzzled her throat affectionately as the brunette woman began to make, spluttering, gurgling noises even as he made another generous line.

 “Did you enjoy his tears?” He murmured after a few seconds. Naruto drifted his lips up to nip at her ear even as he skipped her vulnerable throat to slide the blood dipped claws down the valley between her breasts. Fresh blood eagerly followed wherever his digits led them, sometimes spilling ahead of his coated fingertips, his eyes indifferent to the whole matter.

“I know you couldn’t see them but if you could you’d see how perfect he was then. You could understand why I need to punish you right now,” he tried to explain conversationally. He doubted but hoped that the human, that he was now playing like the strings of a finely tuned cello, would grasp and understand just a little, the need that gnawed so viciously at his heart.

“He was crying for me, you know?” He gave her nipple a cruel twist, which elicited a hoarse whimper from the split open mouth. He snapped his fingers to remove her cross so that she fell heavily back against him, his arm like a steel band across her torso, holding her dead weight close to her tormentor. He gently guided her head to rest against his shoulder before absently kissing her sweaty brow, the blood from her mouth trickling a sticky, wet trail down his chest.

 “You may have been the reason why he started but it was all for me. His misery, his pain, his lust his everything and all should only be focused on me. No one else will do,” Naruto growled out, his voice no longer devoid of emotion. It sounded more like nails on a chalkboard, like the acrid taste of electricity in the air before a lightning bolt. “No one… EVER... I’ll kill everyone who tries.” He neatly snapped her neck with the hand not holding her up before watching with a feral, callous gaze as she slid in a boneless, sticky mess down into the hungry ambiguous maw of the water below.

Naruto knew that as soon as he finished working the rest of his steam off on Ibiki, who was being forced to awaken, that time would rewind backwards, mending broken bones and torn flesh so that his two favorite playthings would stand whole yet shaken at what was to come next.

END FLASHBACK

 “I don’t know what you mean?” the blonde murmured, his eyes glazed over almost lost in thought. The irises were by this point, more red than golden, as he relived the glory of their pain. He seemed a bit disappointed that such an act had ended so soon for him even though it probably stretched like an eternity for his sufferers.

The Shinigami looked in distaste at the slow and easy smile that kept tugging on the corner of the demon’s lips despite him trying to force it down. “This is obviously your handiwork,” Ebisu insisted, withdrawing his handkerchief in order to push his glasses back up the bridge of his slender nose. The longing and fear that warred on the female specimen’s face as she gazed covertly at Naruto while huddled close to her Guardian hadn’t gone unnoticed either by the Shinigami. But he dismissed it in order to look accusingly at his demon captive.

“I’d like to see you prove it.” Naruto purred these words out with a dark, rich undertone like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary. The dark spirit could feel his charge stiffening in his arms by his words and knew instantly, with a bit of amusement, that the little minx had been eavesdropping. “So you’ve come to the world of the living, hmm?” he teased, drawing his human back some to look into those big, soulful eyes of his.

Ebisu narrowed his eyes in disgust even as Sasuke shivered in anticipation of his demon’s attention focusing on him and only him before he nodded his head meekly at his demon. He barely spared the two bodies huddled on the floor a glance, knowing them for the cruel people who had tried to touch what was rightfully his. He wrapped his thin arms possessively around Naruto’s neck and pressed his cool cheek against Naruto’s warm one as he tried to take solace in the fact that Naruto was there in his arms when he woke up this time.

Naruto shifted his head to take in the sweet, clean scent of rain, vanilla and oranges that was his Master. His nose buried in his silky black tresses to luxuriate in the smell before he brushed a kiss against the small one’s temple, eliciting a barely there protest from Anko. He smirked down at the jealous shell of a woman who had developed some twisted form of Stockholm syndrome in the last dying days of the ‘Tsukuyomi’. He took great pleasure in denying her his touch now even as he focused his gaze back on Ebisu.

“And even if you could prove it, they had what’s coming to them. You know it and I know it. They dared to touch me… Mark me and didn’t think I wouldn’t come for my revenge. Paybacks a bitch, you know?” He shrugged his shoulders carelessly as if breaking two humans was really no big deal in the life of a demon.

“Why did you do it?” came his little master’s disembodied voice, arms tightening around Naruto’s neck. Sasuke was willing to ignore the two interrogators on the floor. He didn’t care what had happened to them because he felt, just like Naruto, that they deserved what came to them. But he couldn’t ignore the sense of betrayal that blossomed in his chest at the thought of possibly losing his demon to anyone even to a little, white lie meant to protect him. He moved his head, which Naruto had tucked under his chin, to look with accusing gray orbs at his Guardian.

“They deserved to suffer for what they did to me… to us,” he amended realizing how much pain it had caused to his human. He would usually derive great pleasure in seeing his human in such distress but he didn’t want it to be over those two sorry meat puppets on the floor.

“No… Not that. I…you lied to me,” Sasuke murmured softly, hurt tingeing his words. He had already blindly given his trust to his demon by offering him everything he had and yet his Naruto betrayed him in such a way by withholding information. The small Uchiha couldn’t tolerate this indiscretion for an instant longer if they wanted to be together like he wanted them to be.

The blonde let out a long suffering sigh at how naïve his little master was about the necessities of life. “I was trying to protect what was mine. You are mine,” he hissed out, eyes narrowed warningly in case his human suddenly forgot that. “I didn’t want you to worry about unnecessary matters when I was already going to resolve it,” he tried again in a more reasonable tone.

“I… I should worry. What they did… what they did to you and you let me… you let me believe that it was all a dream…” Sasuke began on a shuddering breath unable to continue as he shook his head in denial, tears welling to his eyes. “No, no I won’t allow it. I… as your m… master…. As your master I demand you to obey my first order.” Sasuke stumbled on his words as he tried to reign in his emotions so that he could properly remember the incantation he was supposed to say when he delivered a golden rule. His brow furrowed thoughtfully but he knew he said it right when Naruto suddenly straightened and looked at him seriously.

“And what is your order little master?” Naruto murmured dutifully even as he wrinkled his nose in distaste. He had been slightly tempted to take a nip at the demon mark so that his Sasuke would be more pliant and understanding to his disturbing sense of reasoning and justice but resisted, if just barely.

“The first rule is that I want you to always tell me the truth. I don’t care if you lie to the others but to me… to me you’ll always be honest… about everything. So no more lies or white lies,” Sasuke insisted wholeheartedly, his chin rose up slightly as he looked determinedly at his demon.

“As you wish Master, is there anything else?” he questioned, as he was required to do.

“Don’t you ever leave me again!” The words had spilled out of the boy’s mouth before he could properly form the sentence into that of a command.

“What?” Naruto questioned in confusion. He didn’t quite understand his small human’s sudden outburst, especially when it was an improper order.

“I… it hurt too much when you left me,” Sasuke tried to explain, his voice beginning to shudder with saturated tears. He began to tremble desperately, his arms tightening further around Naruto’s neck as if he feared the older male would disappear in each blink of an eye. How could he possibly explain the yawning ache he felt in his heart when he had never felt such an intense feeling until he met Naruto?

“That was out of my hands, Poppet. You should know this already. It couldn’t be helped,” Naruto began to explain. Understanding began to dawn on his face as he moved towards the mostly made bed and perched on it so that Sasuke could draw closer to him without having to nearly choke him in his hug to do so because his own hands were still handcuffed.

“No, no I know you could do it,” the Uchiha frowned down at his hands before looking up at his demon. “If you wanted to, you could make sure we were never apart. You… you could hurt them before they took me, right? But you held back, didn’t you? I…” He hesitated, unsure on whether he should continue before he pushed on with a determined look on his face. “The second rule is that no matter what happens, no matter who tries to separate us, even if it’s me, I want you always by my side. Even if I’m mad at you, stay close,” he breathed out fervently, his eyes bright and shining with more unshed tears.

“As my little master wishes but remember these last three orders can not be broken no matter how much you might wish to undo them later.” Naruto cautioned him even as he carefully withdrew his arms from around Sasuke in order to gently tilt his chin up when the trembling child would have bowed his head down. “Look at me Poppet because this is serious.”

“I don’t want these broken. A ma… master can give his demon three golden rules that don’t compromise our contract and those are my three… well two. I’ll come up with the o… other one later,” he insisted with a small watery smile. “P… Please don’t hate me.” He didn’t want Naruto to hate him for ordering him around but he needed to be reassured that he never went through what he did on this wild night.

“Of course I don’t, you are mine. I choose you. I wouldn’t bind myself to someone I’d automatically hate and want to destroy,” the blonde breathed out rationally. He leaned forward to brush a kiss first on the child’s forehead, then a fluttering eyelid before kissing away a tear from an alabaster cheek. He drew away and a small smirk teased across his lips at the way Sasuke seemed to tremble in anticipation now while still straddling his lap.

 His small hands were on his demon’s bare, tan shoulders, dove gray eyes lowered to half-mast as he waited eagerly for where Naruto would kiss him next. His head already began to tilt involuntarily to the side; it was if he was silently begging for his Guardian to nip once more on the mark that connected them. The pretty blush of his extended even to that marble column of neck, throwing the mating mark in full relief; it tempted Naruto to bow his head towards it, handcuffs clinking when Ebisu quickly interrupted their little, intimate moment.

“If you two are done with your little confessions of love and devotion then I believe it is time to attend the trial. I just wanted to confirm what I already knew in this matter before we hurry to your execution… I mean hearing,” Ebisu said in a clipped monotone. Though there was the beginning of a smile starting to form as he said that last part.

COURTROOM, AT THAT VERY MOMENT

The sound of flesh meeting flesh rang out loud and clear as Mikoto’s elegant, small hand came crashing down across her husband’s right cheek. Its’ surprising sound beckoned all to take witness to the odd sight as all turned their heads to witness the petite woman trembling on the spot as she looked up at her shocked and enraged husband.

“What is the meaning of this Mikoto?!” Fugaku demanded after he got over his initial shock and pacified the need to backhand her to the floor. He tried to smooth his features to look composed and filled with concern even as he tried to corral his wife’s hands together to hold and take over the situation. But she quickly withdrew them from his grasp by taking a step backwards.

 “No, what is the meaning of this!” she hissed out angrily as she jabbed a finger at the defense attorney’s table. “How dare you come here now, Fugaku?!” She barely knew how she had gone from almost sitting in the guest seats to standing there with a raging heart and a stinging hand to glare at her husband. She didn’t know but she was determined to find out what her wayward spouse was doing there.

“I heard what happened to our son and I came to help,” the male Uchiha began to explain soothingly. He once more tried to reach for his wife, his eyes darting surreptitiously towards the Councilmen and the jury’s box to see how much damage control he would have to do.

“It’s not for Sasuke that you are here Fugaku Uchiha. Don’t you dare lie to me by saying otherwise,” she ground out. She was seething at the clarification that he was more concerned about whatthey might have thought of him then what she thought of him right now.  “Just admit it’s because of our son’s Guardian that you rushed down here so fast. You are just eager for one of our sons’ to possess the former Kage no Ô’s demon,” she argued, not wanting to be comforted now.

“We will talk about this later,” breathed Fugaku fervently, looking down at his wife in disapproval. ‘How dare she make a scene in front of so many respected individuals? The important thing is I’m here. But she’s too emotionally attached to the situation to realize it,’ he thought bitterly stepping forward even as his wife took a step backwards.

“No we will talk about this right now,” hissed out Mikoto. Her cheeks were flushed a delicate pink as dove gray eyes narrowed dangerously to near slits.

“Our family can thrive off of his strength and prowess. He was the last demon owned by a Kage no Ô,” Fugaku began in a loud whisper. “He is obviously a ‘King Maker’. Do you know how rare that is? What that means? Nothing can be beyond our limits now,” Fugaku pressed, his fist slamming against the table as if to emphasis his point.

“He nearly killed your brother. Does that mean anything to you?” snapped out the petite woman before she grabbed his forearms. She looked pleadingly at her husband, hoping that he could see her reasoning in all this. But what she saw made her want to slap him again as she released her hold to hug herself. “He turned our family upside down and yet you wouldn’t know that because you are married to your work. Not me, you haven’t been married to me for a while now. It’s all about power with you. I’m surprised you didn’t kick me out of the door as soon as I lost my own Guardian!” she ground out bitterly, angry tears springing to her eyes now.

“Mikoto… I would… never… You must know…I…” Fugaku began, startled by how adamantly his wife refused to hear him and his reassurances.

“I’m at my wits end. I’m scared and angry and flustered and anxious. I wanted you… No, I needed you by my side as our youngest son took his first steps into adulthood and you weren’t there. You are never there…  This isn’t the first time and you know it!” she cried out in disgust. Her dark eyes snapped with a fighting spirit that refused to be quenched.

“If you don’t mind the court would like to get started with the trial. If you can’t abhor to this then you can take your little family disagreement outside where you won’t have any distractions,” requested the dry tone of one of the elder council members.

“I… gomen, please forgive me Council,” Mikoto breathed out shakily, quickly bowing in apology. She had almost forgotten they were there in such a public place before she made her way back to her chair. Her fingers trembled as her eldest son offered her a hand of comfort.

“Yes, please forgive her your most dishonorable fogies. She didn’t realize that this was my special day. The selfish creature; but aren’t all humans selfish, among other things,” quipped Naruto brightly, beaming down at the shocked masses.  

The room fell silent as soon as the blonde walked into the courtroom with his dark haired warden. His clothes melted and shifted until they reformed into a well tailored black suit with a crimson red dress shirt and black tie. A roguish smile spread across his lips as he bowed mockingly to the jury while still having his master clutching to him like a human monkey.

“Kyuubi NamiKaze, now renamed Naruto Uchiha, you have been accused of the heinous crime of murdering your former master, one Minato NamiKaze, in the first degree before trying to murderIruka Umino NamiKaze and his Guardian Kakashi. How do you plead?” began Sarutobi formerly. He was the former Kage no Ô and current head of the council.

 “I plead not guilty, of course,” the blonde said with a playful roll of his eyes and a charming smile thrown in.

 The old woman beside Sarutobi bristled at the demon’s cockiness and waved for the Shinigami to chain him before Sarutobi could clear his throat and reassure his fellow council member. “Go and chain him as Koharurequested,” the head of the council requested of the Shinigami Ebisu. He watched patiently as the Shinigami led the demon to the podium before the death god allowed the magical chain he had held as a leash on Naruto’s collar to thicken and sink into the podium that Naruto was to stand behind. As soon as that act was performed and the Shinigami stood patiently to the side, Sarutobi cleared his throat and continued. “You of course will be judged by a jury of your own peers as you can see on your right—”

“Lynch men you mean, but of course only the best for a demon,” Naruto couldn’t help but sneered out, his smile now all teeth. He dared the old man to think that this was not a lopsided trial but the man continued to plow on.

“Would you like to accept Fugaku Uchiha as your defensive attorney or would you be defending yourself? Mind you, Fugaku is one of the best in the circuit world and usually doesn’t do ‘pro bono’ work. So you would fare worse without him,” warned the old man, as if offering him friendly advice.

“I will represent myself if that’s alright with you your honor,” Naruto began seriously. Then back the process of immediately ignoring the blustering of Fugaku, who was trying to get the demon to reconsider.

“Are you that eager to die? There is so much damning evidence against you that at least with my guidance we can get the jury to lessen the punishment, if not anything else,” hissed out an irritated Fugaku. He leaned over Naruto’s podium, willing the blonde demon to reconsider and see reason. He was damned if he’d let a demon humiliate him on top of his own wife. He even flicked his gaze to his youngest son as if the child sitting on top of the podium would vouch on his father’s behave. But Sasuke only silently bowed his head, letting his forehead press against Naruto’s suit front even as he clutched a fistful of Naruto’s sleeve.

“I am all but prepared to prove my innocence. I have nothing to hide and if I’m guilty, well…” The blonde chuckled a little menacingly at that part even as he looped his arm loosely around Sasuke as if daring the man to take him away. “I promised my master we’d never be parted, no matter what it takes.” He said the last words in a sinister purr before he then dismissed Fugaku by shifting his body slightly. Chained as he was, he had to unhook his arm from around Sasuke so that he could gently tilt the silently brooding Sasuke’s chin up so that they could look each other in the eye. “Would you like to sit with your mother?” Naruto asked courteously enough, although he already knew the answer.

“No,” Sasuke said firmly and scowled at the demon for even suggesting it. It wasn’t that the little boy didn’t love his mother dearly. It was just he was still afraid that if he withdrew from his demon’s presence then Naruto would vanish despite his promise and leave him alone again. He didn’t want the blonde to break his promise and he didn’t want to be intimidated into leaving by anyone, not even by family.

“Well then, shall we begin? Stenographer read off the report,” Sartobi commanded before folding his fingers into a steeple-like position. He didn’t quite care for the child to be so close to a convicted murderer but if the demon stayed chained up and the child pacified him for the moment then he’d hold his tongue, for now.

“Police records a week after the murder of the late Kage no Ô Yondaime show that one Iruka-san found the defendant Naruto, holding onto the bleeding body of the victim. Not only that, the eye witness Iruka-san reports saying that Naruto was, himself, covered in blood and seemed ‘crazed’ after the kill. The police also mention that there was no evidence of another present inside of the study room where Minato-san was killed except for Naruto, Minato, Iruka and Kakashi. There was also no coherent evidence of forced entry.

“The medical examiner also assures us that the body was dead almost an hour and a half before Iruka reportedly found it. The police summarize that Naruto, at the time Kyuubi NamiKaze, had motive and opportunity to kill his master before attempting to kill the others,” replied the crisp, precise voice of the woman, who had guided and sat Iruka and the others earlier. She then pressed her ruby red lips together as she pulled out another roll of paper taken from her stenographer machine.

“Danzo-sama later checked to make sure that the reports were accurate by sending out two members from his special police force, ROOT. Danzo-sama told the council that he sent in Ibiki and Anko and they both confirmed that it could only be Kyuubi, the former Guardian of the Kage no Ô, who could have committed this crime. They came to this conclusion after they interrogated both Iruka-san and his Guardian Kakashi.

“We also have confirmation from the Shinigami that Minato-sama’s soul was not accepted into their possession, which makes them believe that it must have been eaten by a demon. End report,” the female stenographer announced before setting the rolled up paper neatly into her briefcase. She then proceeded to place her manicured fingers over her stenographer machine, prepared to record the trial once more.

“Thank you Ms. Yume. Now would Iruka-san please come up to the witness stand so that the jury can hear your testimony again,” Sarutobi suggested, but everyone knew it was an order.

Iruka didn’t hesitate to stand although he found he could not meet Naruto’s eyes as he made his way to the witness stand between the jury box and the councilmen’s bench He made the familiar movements to the bailiff present that he was there to ‘speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God’. He then sat and placed his hands in his laps, fidgeting just barely at all those eyes focused on him.

“What did you witness on that fateful day Umino-san,” Sarutobi instructed kindly. He had seen the brunette when he had first came to report his Aniki’s death and he knew how hard it must be to dredge up such sad and painful memories.

Iruka smiled faintly at the man’s kindness before reciting the day’s activities. How he had planned on going with his brother to a baseball game on his rare day off and had stopped to check on him in the study.

“….and there he was, holding my brother. I thought it was a kitten that he didn’t want my brother to see at first. Kyuubi… I mean Naruto loved cats but my brother was allergic,” Iruka laughed weakly at the fond fact. He still couldn’t help but be amused by how such a dangerous man could be undone by kittens, of all things. He let out a tearful sigh at the thought of better times before he looked down at the clasp hands in his lap. “I… but when I saw what he held… there was no doubt in my mind that my brother was dead and that Kyuubi let it happen,” the brunette said solemnly, this time looking the blonde straight in the eyes.

“Do you believe that this demon killed your brother despite not witnessing the act, yourself?” another member of the council asked. Half of his face was bandaged up and he wore a yukata of all things. But the bandaged man paid the head of the council no mind when Sarutobi looked pointedly at his colleague for taking over questioning.

“Yes, I do,” Iruka said firmly to Naruto. His eyes were determined not to slide away from the penetrating gaze of the blonde. He refused to give into this choking fear.

“And why is that?” The mummified man continued with an approving look in his one uncovered eye.

“He was covered in my brother’s blood and his eyes… his eyes… No sane person has eyes like that. They were cold. They were past the point of caring,” the headmaster pushed himself to say shakily. His hands balled into fists as he tried to stop himself from shedding a tear at the chilling memory.

“Are you sure that you didn’t kill him?” Sarutobi inserted, knowing he had to play devil’s advocate here.

“W… why would I kill my only family?” asked Iruka in bewilderment as he finally broke Naruto’s gaze to look at Sarutobi. He discreetly wiped a tear before he continued. “My Aniki took me in when I had nothing and nobody. He didn’t care that I came from a poor village or that he already had enough on his plate. He cared, that much, that he’d give his hand out to a stranger. I’d never… he was the only home I had left. The only family,” the brunette began to babble a bit at the end, tears silently leaking down. 

“But you were in line to inherit all that Minato had if he passed away. Someone who has attested to being poor could profit handsomely from something like this. You even fought the courts for the house and money offered to you in the will,” Sarutobi said pointedly. He was a fair man and would not let his judgment be questioned by even a demon.

“He would have wanted me to have it. But I’d have traded all that money and the home we both lived in, in order to have my Aniki back,” Iruka said fervently. His eyes narrowed and lips tightened with his conviction.

“But you spent most of the money as soon as you got it, didn’t you?” Sarutobi insisted, guiding the man to confess to what he did with the money from the will.

“Yes… well, I put most the money into my brother’s pet project. It was his dream to fund and begin the school I’m now in charge of. H… He believed that Summoners should be able to work in harmony with their demons. He doesn’t see them as just commodities to be used and disposed in power struggles. He had seen them as people who deserved our respect.

“The rest I used to fund a search for other Summoners, like myself, who are poor and unable to understand the gift that they have because higher society does not find them worthy. I bring those candidates back to my school to have them trained properly with free board,” Iruka explained carefully. He was very proud of his school and the steps it was making to better the country as a whole.

 “Make I ask a few questions? It should only be fair,” Naruto partitioned, smiling when Sarutobi seemed about to dismiss the brunette.

“I… fine then, it is only fair,” the old man reluctantly replied. He waved the demon to proceed although he didn’t give the Shinigami permission to unchain the blonde in order to do so.

“Iruka, you know me as Kyuubi, yes?” began Naruto, unfazed by his mobility being limited to just the podium.

“Yes?” Iruka began, his eyebrow raised in his bemusement to the blonde now being his interrogator.

“And I was your brother’s Guardian, correct?” continued the blonde. He knew as much from what everyone had been saying lately about him but he wanted to confirm for sure.

“Correct?” Iruka answered; still silently questioning why the blonde would restate things they already knew.

“Did you feel that I failed your brother as a Guardian before he was murdered?” The demon asked this carefully even as he began to unconsciously play with a lock of Sasuke’s hair.

“N… no of course not,” Iruka said adamantly. He was unable to deny that fact. “I felt better knowing that you were there for my Aniki in case someone might attack him.”

“Someone attack him? Who would want to attack your brother?” the blonde said in mock confusion, raising a lone brow. He, himself, didn’t know anything about his last master but he did have enough experience to know that people that were that high up in the food chain, as Minato seemed to be, developed enemies quickly.

“W… well there were those who didn’t approve of his methods to improve the living condition of demons. He felt that they should be treated as partners, not something subhuman as I stated before. We both shared that belief,” confessed, Iruka reluctantly.

“I see, and did the council members see eye to eye with your brother most of the time?” Naruto continued to question, methodically. His gaze was thoughtful and no longer bore the cheeky cockiness that he had used to irritate the council members.

“N… no, of course they didn’t. He’d come home frustrated because for every step he took forward to improve things, they’d push him two steps backwards. That’s why I wanted him to take the day off so he would have a day to unwind away from the political bull crap he had to constantly deal with,” the brunette murmured passionately. His hands fisted on top of his lap. He had never liked the council for making his Aniki’s life so stressful. He liked them even less so when they tried to interfere with both Minato’s will and the school that he painstakingly constructed.

“Did he let slip to you which members gave him the most grief?” questioned the blonde. Then when he saw the brunette hesitate, he added, “Remember you are under oath and should answer truthfully.” Inwardly he smirked; knowing that he would soon get the name of the man he knew was trying to set him up.

“Objection, he doesn’t need to answer. It has no relevance to the court case,” protested an elder councilmember with glasses and a trimmed beard.

“D… danzo-sama and his supporter Homura-sama,” Iruka said weakly seconds after the objection. He flinched when the man, who objected earlier, spluttered, knowing he was one of the people he had named. He didn’t need the council to come down on the heads of the school because he revealed such delicate evidence. But he had a funny feeling that the blonde was really going somewhere with this.

“Interesting… You mean the same Danzo, who sent interrogators to your school tonight. Uninvited, I may add?” Naruto clarified calmly as if he wasn’t emotionally invested in this. He softly began to rub circles into Sasuke’s back when the child stiffened at the mention of his demon’s tormentors.

“We don’t know that for sure…” trailed off Iruka, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He didn’t like the idea of being caught up in a feud between the council and Kyuubi.

“But heis leader of the ROOT police, as acknowledged by the lovely stenographer over there.” The blonde continued innocently as if he hadn’t planned from the start to ‘out’ Danzo. He offered the brunette the smallest of smiles as if to comfort the frazzled Headmaster despite knowing it would most likely have the opposite effect.

“Ye… yes, I guess so,” Iruka agreed grudgingly. He wished the blonde would come to his point quickly so he could vacate the chair.

“So why would this distinguished gentleman send two interrogators to come question me when he, of all people, should know that demons that are renamed are therefore reborn and no longer capable of remembering anything. Unlleeeesssss…” He drawled out the last word as if it wanted to savor it. “He was afraid I’d managed to retain something, something that would jeopardize his foothold in the council if I were to spill the truth,” purred out Naruto as he now looked smugly at the bandaged man. “You would gain from my last master’s death, wouldn’t you? Even if you couldn’t be Kage no Ô, you would at least not have to deal with a starry-eyed brat spouting nonsense like equality for demons,” he concluded smoothly.

“That’s pure speculation Naruto-san. You have no evidence to support that accusation,” interjected Sarutobi finally. He had been willing to hear the demon out but when the fiend started to accuse his fellow colleagues of doing something without solid proof, he couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. These were definitely dangerous waters they were entering into.

“And the only evidence you have against me is that I was holding a dead body. The only eye witness available saw theaftermath of the murder and would have blamed me for his brother’s death whether I did it or not. Because I know he’s probably thinking right now,’ If I didn’t do it, why did I let it happen to his precious Aniki. I could have stopped it, so why didn’t I? Right Iruka-kun?” the blonde pressed tauntingly, eyes back on the brunette.

 “Why… Why couldn’t you just keep him alive? All you had to do was protect him!” Iruka cried out, standing up suddenly, tears once more swimming in his eyes. He knew in his heart that Kyuubi could have done it if he wanted to. He could have protected his Aniki and he didn’t. ‘Damn him for that. Damn him straight to hell!’ he thought fervently, teeth clenched and tears finally falling.

“Enough!” Sarutobi shouted and banged his gabble on the polished, wooden discus. He then pointed the gabble at Iruka. “You may step down Umino-san and Naruto… It is obvious that you are making a mockery of the court system. We are ready to call for a short recess so that both the jury and the council can make a ruling since, as you pointed out before, you are unable to testify because your memories of the events are wiped cleaned.”

“I want to speak,” Sasuke suddenly spoke aloud. His hand tightened its grip on Naruto’s sleeve.

“Are you sure Poppet? You don’t have to on my behalf. You must be so tired,” he coaxed. His voice suddenly became silky smooth and hypnotic.

“No!” Sasuke quickly squeaked out and pulled involuntarily back from his demon. “I won’t let you put me to sleep again just because you don’t want me to be scared. I’m ten after all,” he argued importantly, sticking up his chin.

“A grownup ten, I’m sure.” Naruto mused even as he drew the child closer to him so he wouldn’t fall off the podium.

Sasuke wasn’t sure whether his demon was being sarcastic or encouraging but in order to address the council at large he had to hold firm to his belief. “Don’t underestimate me,” Sasuke ground out in a low register, eyes frowning up at his demon.

“I can see why you might think I’m being sarcastic but… I can sense so much potential in you. Such a young age ten is for you humans but already I can taste so much promise from you. It’s only with the barest of control that I haven’t sucked you down to your very marrow, Poppet,” confessed Naruto, even as he traced a lone digit along the Uchiha’s jaw line.

Sasuke shivered at those words, knowing them for the truth that they were. It both terrified and drew him closer to the fiend but he managed to shift his body away from his Guardian, with some difficulty, before hopping off the podium. Quickly he straightened up, tidying the top of his penguin pajamas before he took an important step towards the councilmen.

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha and I am the new master to Naruto Uchiha,” the ten year old said importantly, in an almost solemn tone. He was an Uchiha and he wanted to be treated with as much respect as his title should afford him. No matter if he was still dressed in his sleeping clothes.

“Congratulations on successfully summoning a demon,” replied the voice of an elderly female councilmember, Koharu.

“And at such a young age too, I’m proud. It’s just too bad that you had to summon such a bad one,” sighed out the bearded man, Homura.

“Yes, I’m afraid we’ll have to take him away. It’s, of course, for your own benefit and safety as well as for the safety of those at large,” Danzo finished up, trying to look sympathetic to the child’s plight. “Perhaps we can find a replacement demon for you. I’m sure an already summoned demon that hasn’t been named is willing to be your Guardian,” the bandaged man replied indulgently, as if doing the child a personal favor.

“What right did you have to touch what was mine?” Sasuke said in a small, trembling voice. He frowned at the ground below him, his small fists balled up at his sides. His bangs covered his eyes before he jerked his head up suddenly to look angrily at the almost faceless jury. Angry tears swam in his eyes, obscuring his view as he fought to take shaky breath after shaky breath. “What right did you have to discipline my demon? He’s mine… mine so… so…WHY?!” he said brokenly on a near sob.

“Sasuke, sweetie…” Mikoto began attentively. She was already out of her chair and was ready to go to her baby and hug him to her, except that Itachi quickly grabbed his mother’s wrist. She looked at him in confused annoyance only to have him shake his head silently ‘no’.

“This is his own battle to fight,” Itachi said solemnly. His eyes never left his Otouto for a moment. He might not have liked the situation his baby brother was put in but he was proud that Sasuke was standing up for what he believed was right. “We have to let him grow up sometime.”

Mikoto hesitated as if she was going to ignore her eldest son’s sage advice. She really believed that no child should have gone through what her Sasuke had that day. It had even scared years off of her life as the hours stretched on with each new revelation. But when she looked back at her youngest and saw the way he stood up to the most powerful people in their country with no sign of fear but righteous anger and pride for what he summoned… She nodded her head in agreement and silently took her seat again, welcoming the hand that slid back into her hand.  

Sasuke fought back the tears. He hadn’t meant to cry. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was grownup enough to handle this on his own as he roughly scrubbed the tears away from his cheeks. He then jabbed his fingers at the shocked jury before continuing. “YOU ARE THE BIG, BAD GOVERNMENT SO WHERE IS YOUR PROOF!!! I WANT IT! I WANT IT NOW!!!” he demanded in a steady hiss. His hands snatched at the air as if he could yank down each accusation thrown at his demon.

“Sasuke, silence!” Fugaku snapped out, ready to snatch up his temperamental child. He was horrified by the behavior of his family today. First his useless half brother showing up to an event no one invited him to, then his wife back talking him in front of important people, followed closely on the heels of being rejected by a murderous demon and now this… ‘This is the last straw,’ he thought fervently.

He was almost halfway to his child when he faltered at the warning growl unfurling from deep within Naruto’s chest. He looked cautiously to make sure the chains were still firmly in place but his body refused to take another step forward.

“Th... the day I named him was the day he became a new person.” Sasuke pushed on in a softer tone, willing them to understand. He looked nervously at his father before he settled his gaze back up at the councilmen. “Even if Naruto came to me soaked in sin I will wash it all away. Even if his hands are wet and warm with blood I will wipe them clean. Even if somehow I get dirty myself in the process I am willing to in order to connect with him further,” Sasuke pledged fervently, pounding his chest with his small fist with each declaration.

“I’m sure that if the circumstances were different then he would have made a fine demon,” Homura simpered, finally interrupting the small Uchiha. His gaze was narrowed on the demon who he remembered never seeming to know his place in the world. That demon didn’t deserve this child’s passionate words. He wouldn’t allow this boy to anchor himself to such a helpless cause.

“I was only indulging you since it seemed unfair to strip you of the title of Summoner just because you received a bad egg. But my patience is wearing thin. Shinigami take Kyuubi to the chair. We don’t need a recess to deliberate as Sarutobi might have suggested. We all know this piece of filth is guilty, right council?” he asked, expecting all to agree with him.

Ebisu was already, releasing Naruto’s chain, the leash reforming around his wrist again as he began to lead the demon towards the big wooden chair.

“You can’t do this! You can’t! You have no proof so let him go!” Sasuke shouted, angry tears falling once more. He was already walking towards the Shinigami, ready to snatch away the chain when he felt his brother’s arms wrap suddenly around him. He fought them, begging his Aniki to let go so he could protect what was his. But Itachi held firm, making soft shushing noises.

“It’ll be okay Otouto. I’ll keep you safe,” he murmured softly. He didn’t want his brother anyway near the Shinigami. He had this suspicious feeling that the glasses wearing death god would most likely hurt the child for interfering in what he perceived to be justice. Itachi knew that despite wanting the demon eliminated, he couldn’t let Naruto die if only because of the simple fact that his life was tied irrevocably to his brother’s.

“Isn’t that a bit archaic?” the blonde asked blinking in wonder at what he knew was the demon’s equivalent of an electric chair. He had seen that same chair over the centuries and saw how the demons that were forced to sit in it were slowly drained of their essence until there was nothing left of them, not even a speck of dust.

Ebisu tugged on the blonde’s leash, reminding him of the other way the blonde could die. He didn’t question the fact that the demon wasn’t fighting him the way that other demons might have after finding out their fate. He just became that more wary as he led the seemingly docile fiend towards the chair.

Naruto stood in front of the chair, red rimmed eyes narrowing as he sized up the ancient piece of furniture. It seemed almost too innocent and aesthetically pleasing to warrant the demon’s cautious actions but not many could feel the pulse of dark magic before he turned to sit down in it. He slammed his open palms down against the studded thorns at the end of the chair’s arms. His jaw clenched minutely against the moment’s initial penetration.

Eyes sliding close, the blonde licked his lips at the burning feel of old magic wreaking havoc on his nervous system. It was like the odd sensation of licking an electric socket, the way the energy crackled across his molars and sizzled on the tip of his tongue. He didn’t fight the wooden vines that entwined around his arms and legs to hold him in place after registering that he was a demon. Instead he enjoyed drinking in the gasp of the jury at how nonchalantly he caused pain, even to his own self.  He was confident that the Uchihas wouldn’t let him die if it risked killing their son as well.

“Do we all agree that Naruto Uchiha is guilty of killing the late Kage no Ô, Minato NamiKaze?” Danzo requested, snatching the gabble away from the blustering Sarutobi. His visible eye told the older man that he felt the man was too weak and soft-hearted to be their leader. Then he looked back at his fellow councilmen, pleased no one objected to the little coup d’état.

“You can’t! My brother will literally die if you kill his Guardian!” Itachi said this in a firm, steady voice, even as he simultaneously picked up the distraught Sasuke to hold.

“What is this foolishness Itachi,” Danzo growled out in his displeasure. He felt the elation of getting rid of Naruto once and for all dying away at Itachi’s declaration. He didn’t know the boy, who he had thought to groom as his successor, would make such idle comments unless they bore some warrant.

“Naruto formed a Demon’s Proposal soon after he was summoned,” Iruka said quickly, standing from his guest chair. “If you were to sentence Naruto to death, you would be in turn killing an innocent and earn the eternal scorn of the Uchihas’ and their allies. If you decide on the other hand to sentence him to imprisonment for life, again Sasuke will suffer. The Demon’s Proposal won’t allow the two to be apart for long without one or both being driven mad. Naruto knew that when he bit Sasuke earlier today. He needed a guarantee that the council would set him free,” Iruka admitted in grudging admiration. It seemed that Naruto knew that the council would be set on killing him no matter what. So he had made sure to cross all his T’s and dot all his I’s to prevent it from happening. 

Danzo grimaced as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. He glared down at the smug demon that looked as if he had swallowed the proverbial canary. He could even sense the hesitation of his fellow councilmen, who had been willing up until now to let Danzo settle the matter. The old man refused to have his plans fall to pieces by a demon of all things.

“I am sure the child is willing to give up his life in the name of justice,” Danzo said boldly to a few gasps. He clenched his teeth before forcing a cordial smile to the jury and his fellow council members. “Should we really let a murderous demon walk free to possibly terrorize the good citizens of Konoha because of one small hiccup?” he asked, trying to sound reasonable.

“My brother isn’t some small hiccup, Danzo-sama,” hissed out Itachi, hugging his brother tighter. Already he could feel his Guardian slowly easing his sword out of its sheath as he moved to stand near his master. They would fight the government and free Naruto if it meant keeping his Otouto safe.

“Yes, before you sentence him I would like to submit a crucial piece of evidence!” A powerful voice proclaimed right after the resounding crash of double doors. A man with a wild mane of white hair that was barely tamed back into a ponytail, walked purposely into the courtroom. His busty, blonde Guardian followed closely at his heels wearing a negligee and some track pants she had quickly slipped on after speaking to Iruka. She had quickly disposed of the last hired Guardians who had tried to bar their entrance.

“Tsunade?” Iruka gasped out in surprise. Guilt suddenly flooding him for calling up someone who had been able to take out more than twenty hired Guardians with such brute force. He should have known she’d do anything for her ‘son’; but he also knew it would have been wrong not to let her know the situation earlier.

The blonde deputy headmistress ignored her boss and everyone around her as she quickly made her way to the restrained Naruto and practically straddled him in order to hug him properly. She felt so happy to see her boy again after nearly a decade. So happy in fact that she didn’t register that he was trapped to a execution chair until she realized that he was neither fighting her back nor trying to hug her in return. That was when she looked down at what was restraining him before glaring up at the Shinigami who still held his leash.

“You damn sure will taste your blood, teeth and my fist if you even think about killing my boy, Ebisu,” she hissed out, amber eyes narrowed. She was simply livid at the idea that not only didn’t they invite her and her master to the hearing, but they also dared to try and kill what was rightfully hers.

 “Jiraiya, what do we owe this pleasant surprise to? I would have sent you an invitation if I knew you were this eager to see your former friend sentenced.” Danzo ground out his words between a biting smile even as he discreetly signaled to Ebisu to activate the chair.

To be continued…

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AN: Dum… dum… dum… I hope you like meh cliffie. You probably won’t but I’m channeling Naruto’s evil right now XP Before you ask, demons do not have parents but Tsuande adopted Kyuubi as her son and refuses to see him otherwise. It, will be explained later. Sorry if the court discussion doesn’t sound very court-like… closest thing I came to one is watching Judge Mathis and that’s been a while <.<;

Also since I made it so that demons and not humans carry powers and weapons that might be seen in the anime, it seemed reasonable to give Itachi’s Tsukuyomi to Naruto. I just love the way he uses it. Well hope you enjoy and until next time, Ciaossu! 

Updated: My Little Uke, Promise