Disguised Curses
Why???
CH 6
“He what !!” Sasuke winced at the loudness of the blonde’s voice, but once again began to explain everything the fox had said. “Apparently he wants Neji as his ‘prey’ .” He didn’t quite understand it, but something about their friend had attracted the fox’s interest. And he had a nasty feeling that the fox’s interests weren’t all that simple. After all, he’d nearly pounced on the poor man right in front of the Hokage!
“Poor Neji. You’re sure I tried to jump his bones before you knocked me out?” At Sasuke’s glare the fox container held up his hands in defense. “I just can’t believe I blew it so badly in front of Tsunade. It’s just way too much.”
Sasuke wrapped his arm around Naruto’s shoulders, awkwardly offering support. “Hey, at least she didn’t sic some random ANBU guard on you. You got me, and right now, I want you to tell me why this last mission was so bad you actually fused further with that damn fox when you were already at the brink of your control.”
“I volunteered to try and bring back what was left of Jiraiya. The toads had managed to find it and did something to slow the whole process down so I could bring him back, so he could be buried properly. But Pain is still ruling that area and it was one hell of a time. I barely managed to get out of there in one piece.” He shuddered and Sasuke held him a little tighter. “I somehow got Jiraiya’s body to the toads’ mountain. They agreed to bring him here by the end of this week and told me to leave. It took me nearly a week to come back, I had to keep stopping because Kyuubi would often try to take over. He finally settled when we got far enough away from everything but then went on edge again when I came into town. I haven’t slept much the whole trip and I know it’s not helping, but I can’t let go. Especially now, since I know that the fox wants to ‘play’ with one of my friends.”
The pair sat silent for a long few moments. Sasuke had found out about Asuma’s and Jiraiya’s deaths, but it hadn’t hit him as hard as it did for some of the others, and obviously as much as Naruto. “He said you requested the merging. I have only heard a little about Pain, but did it really need such a risky move?”
“I heal fast, you’ve seen it. After my first encounter with Pain it took Kyuubi three days to get my body back to simply being able to move again. A ninja can’t sit around like that in enemy territory every time they get hurt. So, I asked him for help and we talked about what could happen. I knew it was risky, but… I needed to finish this mission. Tsunade wouldn’t have wanted me to take the risk, but I was confident I could still have some decent control. I never expected to be battling him every day for the right to rule my body.” He finished, whispering. He was exhausted, from lack of sleep, battling the fox, stress from the last mission- it was all catching up. He groaned when soft chakra was pressed against his shoulders as Sasuke began to gently massage the tight muscles. “Sleep Naruto. You’re safe with me.”
Slowly, as relief and calm crept into him and he finally felt that rare sense of being protected come over him, Naruto shut his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep. Sasuke sighed, lifting his bundle and carried the sleeping boy back to the city, to the Uchiha compound. Might as well let the boy sleep somewhere comfortable, as well.