Dangerously Beautiful

Chapter 7 Worried Pit pat pit pat pit pat, the youngest Uchiha's legs smacked the paved roads mercilessly, his toes aching from his quick sprint, his black eyes focused constantly forward, putting the delirious and confusing thoughts out of his head for a short while. Sasuke panted heavily, for some reason he had been running, ever since he had seen Itachi and Naruto together by the lake, he had been running. His legs were so sore, but he couldn't muster the strength to stop himself. Naruto and Itachi. Naruto and Itachi. Naruto and Itachi. No matter how many times he repeated their names in his head, it didn't add up. His black hair flew in an outhis his face as the youngest Uchiha finally managed to slow himself, bending and holding his knees with his hands. "Naruto, what the Hell are you thinking?" he muttered aloud, knowing he was far enough away from the two to voice his opinion. He pounded balled-up fists on his legs and growled; "What the Hell is wrong with you?!" his voice was ragged from the loud shout, crippled by the pent0-up anger inside of him. Tiredly he fell against the side of a large building, allowing it to cradle his shoulder and hold him up, "Why? What would make Naruto go off with Itachi, the man who had murdered countless people, the one who had been banished from Konoha, who had been hunted for years as an S Rank criminal?" Sasuke clawed at his scalp, his black eyes widening sharply at a thought, "Maybe he's switching sides? Maybe he will join Itachi in Akatsuki..." the thought of having to face the young blonde in battle sent chills up his spine. That demon fox inside of him could destroy Sasuke in the blink of an eye. Sasuke quickly discarded that thought, "No, no, he would never do that. He's always too damn honest and loyal..." he held his aching head as he worried about the boy's safety, "Maybe I should've tried to save him, he would have done that for me, no matter how tough the opponent was." He mumbled, his body nearly tearing itself in two as his emotions wavered. The youngest Uchiha finally released the building that had been supporting his weight, shuffling down the dark streets with his hands firmly tucked in his pockets. "Dammit, Naruto..." Kakashi's coal black eyes shot open as he heard his front door slam, a severely angry Uchiha marching inside, his short black hair seeming to hang down, his eyes kept focused beneath him. The gray-haired Jounin let out a sigh, "Geez, Sasuke, you really scared me... Here I thought it was Gai coming in to challenge me." He murmured with a little laugh, noticing right away his young student wasn't in the mood. Sasuke grumbled quietly to himself, frustrated that he could not wear a false faade in front of his teacher, even for a second, that he could not simply laugh at Kakashi's jokes and pretend everything was all right. He shifted his weight and nearly toppled into his teacher's bedroom, landing on the sheets and continuing to rant in inaudible grumbles and mumbles. "Dammit..." Sasuke cursed under his breath, grabbing fistfuls of sheets and curling up into a small ball. Kakashi let out a grunt as he followed him, climbing into his own bed and looking at his alarm clock. It had only been thirty minutes since the boy left to feed the kitten, what could have changed his mood so much in such a short amount of time? The gray-haired Jounin poked his head out of the sheets, facing his student, his nose only inches away from the Uchiha's face. "What's wrong?" Sasuke turned to face the other way, ignoring the caring Jounin and forcing his black eyes closed reluctantly, the last thing he wanted to do was talk about the incident, to remind himself of the horror he had seen. Kakashi sighed, wrapping an arm around the youngest Uchiha from behind, "Fine, you don't have to tell me..." he quickly returned, already giving up hassling the young teen. "Just try to get some sleep, okay?" he suggested, leaning forward to give Sasuke a light kiss on the cheek. The young ninja recoiled from the touch, gritting his teeth in frustration and falling asleep with the large knot in his stomach. The young Jounin watched as the tense boy quickly loosened up after falling into a forced sleep, his eyebrows still furrowed and wrinkling his forehead. Kakashi reached over, pulling his student's eyebrows up and trying to fix the frown that had been plastered on his face. "You're face will stay that way if you..." "Naruto..." The unexpected words interrupted Kakashi's speech, his black eyes widening. "What?" Sasuke tossed and turned in his sleep, kicking at the mattress and nearly strangling his pillow in the process. If that Uzumaki kid were around, he'd strangle the life out of him, slowly and painfully for being stupider than usual. His breath was severely labored while he slept, his chest heaving; sweat pouring down his neck despite the night's cold weather. "Naru..." he called again, hours had passed since the last time he had murmured the blonde's name. Before him was a vastly uneventful and pitch-black blur, with all the usual strange happenings of a bad dream. There were those blood red eyes, larger than life, looming over him, watching every move he made. Even though they were so familiar, they still sent a sudden chill up his spine. "Brother!" Sasuke shouted, turning to see Itachi standing amongst the never-ending nothingness, a wide smirk on his face. As always with the youngest Uchiha's nightmares about the fierce young man, he was wearing his Anbu outfit, decked out in the blood of the clan-just as Sasuke's last memories recalled him. Itachi grinned, "Naruto." He called out, the blonde appearing seemingly out of no where and running into the eldest Uchiha's warm arms, taking shelter in the bloody grip of the murderer. Sasuke took a step forward, "Naruto! Stop, can't you see? He's going to hurt you!" he warned, black eyes wide with fright, his knees shaking violently of the realization he could do nothing to help him. Naruto closed his eyes, reveling in Itachi's touches and pulling closer to him, getting blood on his clean face, smearing it over his cheeks and staring back at Sasuke with bloodthirsty eyes, "He won't hurt me... Only you." The blonde answered with a slight chuckle. A few seconds later Itachi had raised his hand in the air, sending Sasuke flying across the abyss without even touching him. The youngest Uchiha hit the ground hard, bouncing off of it and smacking into it once again, nearly shattering his back. od sod spat from his lips, "N-Naruto..." he muttered, seeing the boy walk over to him slowly, stopping when he had reached his feet. "Naruto, dammit... He's a killer, what makes you think he won't kill again?" he pleaded, still trying to convince the somewhat uncooperative young Uzumaki. The blonde smiled widely, his eyes so bright red, his chakra so immense it was hard for Sasuke to concentrate on anything else. Just like that time he had transformed into the demon fox, the red light surrounding him was nearly out of control. Naruto pulled down quickly, his face so close to Sasuke's he could taste his breath, the breath that had mingled with Itachi's own. Suddenly the young fox grabbed Sasuke's black collar in hand, grabbing at his neck with his small hands and pressing down hard. Sasuke gagged, biting his bottom lip as he clawed at Naruto's arms, arms that had begun to clamp down harder on the suffocating Uchiha, "S-stop it Naruto..." The dark-haired ninja's eyes rolled upward in his head, though he tried best to fight it, pulling his neck forward and kicking his legs, narrowly missing the blonde by a small bit every time. Sasuke was just about to let himself fade into darkness when he saw a dark shadow behind his teammate, a tall shadow that was looming closer to his quivering form. "Naruto! Behind you!" Why had the Uchiha warned the one who was threatening and nearly killing him, he was still clueless, but pulled back as he saw those dangerous arms encircle Naruto's neck, a sharp kunai glinting amongst the darkness. Sasuke bolted off of the ground, launching upwards in an attempt to stop his older brother, his legs seeming so heavy and slow. Before he could fully stand, blood splattered on his face, spraying over his hands and his clothing, nearly soaking him in the evidence of death. The youngest Uchiha could feel his lower lip trembling as he stared down at the red blood that dripped from his palms that fell off of his face and trickled down his neck. Slowly his beaded eyes focusednwarnwards, to the source of all that blood. The young blonde had fallen so gracefully for being slashed across the belly like that, though pint after pint of blood still gurgled out of his wound. The frightened young Uchiha had never been good around blood, other than his own. Instinctively he backed away from the intimidating and familiar scene, watching Narutohorthort arms reach for him, "Sasu... ke..." he muttered desperately, voice horse and raspy. Sasuke covered his eyes, squeezing his eyelids closed in an attempt to ignore the bloodshed, the act of covering his eyes only adding more of the blonde's blood to the decoration on his face. "Stop it, stop it..." he begged, hoping to wake up earlier, to avoid this horrible nightmare soon. Suddenly a pale hand grasped around the back of his hair, grasping the black locks tightly and pulling Sasuke's head up, forcing him to watch the dying boy suffer. The youngest Uchiha had only to turn a little to discover who it was, as Itachi's blood red eyes nearly glowed in the dark. Sasuke clenched his teeth together as he felt the pulling on his scalp, his reluctant black eyes now opened to the frightening sight before him. "Look familiar?" A low voice sounded behind him. Naruto clutched at his wound as he slowly passed, coughing up blood that had caked on his own m and and allowing his head to face Sasuke, "Sasuke... It hurts..." "Sasuke, it hurts..." "Make it better..." "Save me..." Sasuke held his aching head, trying to tear away from Itachi's grip but failing to do so, "I can't... I'm not strong enough; I can't..." he whined over and over again, coming to the realization that he could do absolutely nothing to assist him. "Naruto!" The youngest Uchiha screamed, bolting up where he lay and huffing heavily, his lungs filling with much needed oxygen, sweat pouring down his cheeks and soaking his collar. The young student bit his bottom lip and stared down at his fast-asleep teacher by his side, a worried expression still held on his face, probably because of the bad attitude Sasuke had returned in last night. "Kakashi," Sasuke poked at his teacher lightly, "Kakashi, are you awake?" The gray-haired Jounin groaned, turning over lazily and opening his eyes, "It's only eight, go back to sleep..." he muttered. Sasuke played with his teacher's gray hair, running his fingers through his thick head of hair and leaning down to whisper into his ear, "I can't sleep, can I go out for a walk?" he asked quietly, trying not to startle his half-asleep instructor. Kakashi nodded, hugging a pillow to his chest, "Just," he pointed to his cheek with a flustered grin. The youngest Uchiha rolled his dark eyes, but complied with his teacher's request, placing a kiss on Kakashi's cheek before he left. Sasuke soon headed out the door, needing to take his mind off of the troubling situation if only for a few hours. He shoved his hands in his pockets and skirted around Konoha's early morning crowds, the shoppers, the merchants, the ninjas fighting to get an early start at their training. The young teen let out a drawled sigh as he noticed he was still receiving those questionable looks from the citizens who had seen him with Kakashi yesterday, or those who had received it as here-say. Quickly he reminded himself their opinions didn't matter and continued wandering, pacing certain blocks he knew well and hurrying by the more questionable areas. All of a sudden, he stopped in place, his legs paralyzed in an instant. Sasuke took in a breath as he spotted the spiky blonde in the distance, heading down to the Ichi raku by the looks of the direction he was heading. "Naruto!" he shouted loudly, taking the crowd by surprise as the normally silent and reserved Uchiha suddenly was yelling across crowded streets. "Naruto!" The second time had caught the young blonde's attention, his head turning to see Sasuke across the block, causing his blue eyes to widen sharply. After a few short seconds of pondering the situation, Naruto spun around and began to run in the opposite direction, pushing past people to avoid the youngest Uchiha. Sasuke grumbled, "Naruto, Naruto, wait!" he called, making his way through the morning hustle and bustle after the young fox, desperate to talk to him before his nightmare came true. Naruto continued to take small alleyways and dank streets to get as far away from Sasuke as possible, the guilt welling up inside of his stomach from having to face the victim of the one he had voluntarily allied himself with. He turned his head for a short while, looking to see if UchiUchiha was still following him when he felt a cold hand grab his arm from behind. "Ah!" Naruto squealed, turning to see Sasuke had already caught up with him, though he was breathing heavily from all the running he had done to finally find him. "Naruto, we need to talk." The two took their seats at the counter of the Ichi raku, passing on ordering anything and instead using the restaurant as a safe haven from anyone who might have been listening. The young blonde sheepishly stared at his feet, swinging them back and forth as he sat, trying not to look Sasuke in those familiar black Uchiha eyes. "Naruto..." Sasuke stopped as he knew he couldn't find the words he needed to say. If he told his teammate he had seen him with Itachi last night, it would only make him feel worse about himself, more guilty and embarrassed, but it was hard not to just blurt it out. "We need to talk, lately you've avo avoiding me for some reason..." His rival remained quiet for a long time, staring at his toes and cursing, "It's not like you care about me anyway." Sasuke pounded his fist on the counter angrily, causing the blon blu blue eyes to shoot open, his entire body giving off a shiver, "You idiot, I'm your teammate, of course I care about you!" he exclaimed, trying to keep his statements somewhat quiet, his pale cheeks already turning red. "You liar." Sasuke grunted, grabbing the blonde's collar and shaking him back and forth, "Don't you fucking mope about the demon fox thing again, that everyone in Konoha hates you, that you've got no friends. You've got Kakashi, you've got Iruka, you've got Sakura, and you've got me! Whether or not we chose it, we're teammates now so anything that happens to you affects me, alright?" In reality the fuming Uchiha was holding a debate inside of himself whether or not to tell the innocent blonde he had seen him last night, that he knew exactly why he had been avoiding him lately. Naruto limply allowed Sasuke to hold him, his self-respect and self-esteem now at an all time low as hormaormally energetic eyes seemed glazed and tired. Finally the youngest Uchiha released him, turning back to face the counter and holding his hand up as though he were going to order something, "If I get you some ramen, will you talk?" Naruto's blue eyes shook a little upon the realization the Uchiha knew his favorite food. He gave a reluctant nod. Sasuke waved over the old man and placed an order for a large serving of miso chashuu ramen, the blonde unnerved a little that Sasuke also knew his favorite kind. As a joke the youngest Uchiha elbowed his teammate, "I tasted it on your breath that time you and I..." They both quieted in embarrassment as they waited for the order to arrive. Finally a steaming hot bowl of noodles was placed under Naruto's nose, waking him from his stupor just enough to give him the energy to snap his wooden chopsticks and dig into the meal. By then Sasuke had made his decision, "Naruto, I've got something important to tell you," he began, watching the boy as he slurped his noodles, not with his usual fervor, but with a more instinctual desire to eat and simply survive. "Last night..." Naruto felt his heart stop dead in his chest, his entire body freezing. "I saw you last night, with... with Itachi." The blonde spat out the noodles that were still hanging from his lips, nearly choking on the food in his mouth. Sasuke sighed, "I know you probably don't want to hear this from me, but I don't think you should be around him, he's dangerous, you know? To his own family he was caring and loving at first, but he's different now. You just can't trust him..." he advised carefully, putting a hand on his teammate's shoulder. Naruto swiped the hand off angrily, standing up from the barstool, "Fuck you Sasuke! You don't give a damn about me anyway, what the Hell do you care? You just want me out of the way so you can try and kill him again, right? That's onlyonly reason you want me to get away from him, right? So I won't be in the way of your revenge?" he shouted loudly, clenching small fists at his side. "Naruto... No, it's not like that! If you don't stop seeing him, he could..." "No!" The young boy interrupted furiously, his face turning a light shade of pink as the blood in his veins boiled over, "You don't know anything about anything you saw! And who are you to tell me what to do? I don't have to listen to someone who calls me an idiot! It's none of your business..." he retorted, knowing by Sasuke's expression he definitely had a comeback. "Oh yeah? I don't know anything, he murdered my family and condemned me to a life of following him and running from him at the same time, he ruined my life, and I don't want him to ruin yours! And yes, I do want to kill him, I want to watch hleedleed and suffer like our parents did, I want him to beg for mercy and receive none, and if you refuse to get away from him, I don't know what I'm going to do to you either..." Sasuke covered his mouth at the last statement, had he really meant that? Had he just said it just in the heat of the moment? Sasuke didn't really know. Naruto was taken aback by his partner's threat, adding the final drop of fuel to the fire, he quickly sprinted off with tears in his eyes, his mind and his heart both too confused to listen to any of it anymore. Everything about the world he had learned to comprehend and understand had been flipped and broken and deformed so much it was hard to tell which end was up. He had always believed he had friends, that Itachi was an enemy, but now, he wasn't so sure. Sasuke collapsed to the dirt ground; cupping a hand over his mouth as his head sun so fast it felt like he was going to throw up. He bent over on the seat; trying to hold himself up while the sick feeling took hold of him. "Itachi, I'm going to kill you, I swear I'm going to kill you..." Naruto bolted back to his house, his short legs carrying him only a few blocks before he fumbled, tripping over his young legs and toppling to the dirty ground. Tears poured down his cheeks, gathering in his whiskers and spilling over into the sand roads, creating a murky pile of mud under his face. Quietly he whimpered, gathering small fists and weeping into his arms. Many people passed but few turned to look at him, even fewer thinking of helping him, all of their attitudes reiterating what he knew the village really thought of him. He was just a monster in their book, an evil reminder of the past that seemed to slap the victims of the demon fox in the face each and every day. A shadow covered his small form, an overwhelming shadow of someone obviously much taller than him. The quivering young blonde soon heard a familiar voice behind him, "Naruto, what, did you fall or something?" His brown-haired Chuunin teacher asked kindly, offering a kind hand to help his young student up. Naruto swatted the hand away like an annoying insect, pushing Iruka away with a grumble, "Stay the Hell away from me!" he shouted, his voice still squealing from all the crying he had done. The young Chuunin backed away from his furious student, somewhat surprised at how he had lashed out. "Naruto..." he murmured quietly, his young student hurrying down the crowded streets, back to his home. Naruto wiped the caking tears from his eyes and finally reached his small, somewhat humble home, burst into the door and slammed it shut behind him. Too many things had happened lately, too many confusing things that had bent and twisted the young blonde's sense of reality, nothing really making much sense anymore. With a single 'plop', he fell tiredly to his bed, grabbing handfuls of the covers and crying into his fluffy pillow. "Itachi, Itachi, Itachi..." He whispered, taking a harsh bite out of the material on his pillow. He wanted to see him right now, he wanted to be able to be with him, to hug him and feel his strong, comforting arms surround him. He needed tel lel loved, like someone in this uncaring town felt something for him. Damn Sasuke, he was just lying to him, even when Naruto thought they might've been good friends who would look out for each other on missions, he had just been pretending, pretending to care about him every day. Damn him... 'Click' 'Clang' 'Thunk' Slowly the young teen's window was fiddled with, the locks unlocked and the glass portion lifted up with a loud squeak. From the cool morning air outside climbed a quiet Uchiha, draped and decked out in his usual fluid black cape that trailed after him as he climbed stealthily inside the blonde's room. Naruto turned his head slightly, his pearl blue eyes catching sight of his illicit lover and sparking full of life. Quick as a flash the young fox sprung up from his bed and leapt into Itachi's shocked arms. Desperately he brought his body closer, feeling the warmth of his skin through his clothing. "Itachi, I missed you..." he muttered, feeling hesitant arms caress his back. "Don't leave me alone again, please..." "What happened puppy? You have a nightmare or something?" Itachi questioned, noticing now how much Naruto acted like a younger, more childish Sasuke. The similarities were numerous now that he thought about it. The young blonde stifled his tears, "Sasuke, Sasuke was lying to me again... He saw us together last nigand,and," he stopped dead silent upon seeing the deadly look in Itachi's eyes. The eldest Uchiha pondered that thought for a moment. Yes, Kakashi had not come out to feed the cat, but Sasuke did, and he had seen them. It made sense now-why the Uchiha had not felt Kakashi nearby. Itachi grew silent for a long while before replying, "It doesn't matter what my stupid brother saw, he knows better than to tell anyone about us. Don't worry puppy, it'll be alright." He assured him with a half-hearted smile. Naruto's heart beat faster in his chest, nearly bursting out as he felt his secret lover's lips press lightly on his forehead. "It'll be alright..." Slowly Sasuke made his way through the streets, sliding his feet against the dirt and kicking up large clouds of sand and stone as he continued on his way back to Kakashi's house. He was probably wondering where he was, seeing as he had left over an hour ago to 'take a short walk'. The youngest Uchiha slumped down, shoving his pale, cold hands into his pockets and following Naruto's trail down the street, coming only a block or so away from the loud ninja's quaint home. Sasuke stopped at the entrance to Naruto's small place, staring at the wide doorway, a sloppy 'Uzumaki residence' painted on, obviously when the blonde was very young, as the letters were backwards and the paint was fading. Even so, Sasuke let a smile spread to his normally abrasive exterior, raising his hand to knock on the door, hoping to talk to the boy again, to convince him to stay away from Itachi. Something in his body stopped him though, so animalistic instinct that burned inside of him telling him to turn away from the door, to head down the narrow alleyway beside him and come in through the back. His dark eyes widened severely, he had never gotten such a strange and encouraging feeling before. Without a second thought Sasuke went with his instinct, heading past the trash cans and dirty hung laundry to the back of the blonde's small house. What he saw when he passed the window was enough to drive the youngest Uchiha off the edge. And it did. Sasuke's black eyes reddened, his pupils dilating and the remainder of his eye turning as red as blood, his muscles all seeming to tighten and stretch at the same time. His bloodlust grew fierce as he pulled his left arm back, slamming it into the glass window and sending sharp pieces slicing into his arm and fingers, though he never hesitated or showed any sort of reaction to the immense pain. He couldn't help himself. He had just warned Naruto about the dangers of being with such a dangerous and murderous person, and not even ten minutes later there he was with him again. But really the one he was furious with wasn't Naruto; it was the bastard who was hurting him. The youngest Uchiha recoiled his hand so it balanced on the windowsill and leapt easily through the large crevice he had just created and immediately directing his attention on his older brother, his glass-ridden fist making a beeline to his face. The elder of the Uchiha easily evaded the predictable attack and grabbed Sasuke by the neck, inching him higher and higher above the ground. The dark-haired teen struggled under his grip, kicking and clawing at his older brother's hands, trying to force him to let go. Naruto spun his head back and forth, the room seemingly spinning at how quickly the situation had spiraled out of control, "Stop, stop it!" the young blonde yelled, grabbing at Itachi's body and trying to control him. Tears gathered in his pearl blue eyes as Itachi continued to strengthen his squeeze on Sasuke, a sound emitting from his tightened neck like a stretched rope, bones inside being crushed against the skin. Itachi ignored the blonde-haired pest lagging on his side and continued to tighten his pale fingers. Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Damn you... you... to Naruto, you..." his voice was quickly silenced as his brother used his free hand to land a crushing blow into his small abdomen, causing Sasuke to raise his knees and reach for his aching stomach. Naruto pulled at Itachi's clothing desperately to get him to stop. "Please, please stop... Itachi..." Itachi again ignored his young lover and plunged another hard hit into Sasuke's belly. On the outside it appeared he was just angry that his little brother had interrupted him and barged in so rudely on them, on the inside though, Itachi was fuming, this was the person who had stolen Kakashi away from him-this was the person the Jounin had picked. The older Uchiha's red eyes grew wider as his blows became quicker, harder, and more enraged. Sasuke fought his aching head, trying to stay conscious, trying not to succumb to his brother's powers, but his body couldn't hold out foch lch longer. With a grunt, a sign he was not just an impenetrable killing machine, Itachi pushed the next punch the furthest, skidding a little south of the boy's ribs and nailing him directly in the stomach. The younger of the two whimpered slightly, blood spurting past his pale lips before his body grew limp. Naruto was now in a full-blown weep, his blue eyes cascading in unstoppable tears, "Stop it, Itachi, please..." he begged, holding the eldest Uchiha from behind tightly, his small arms wrapped around his waist, his blonde scalp pressed against his back. Itachi let out a disgusted scuff before tossing his brother's defeated body to the floor of Naruto's room. "...Weakling..." The young blonde picked up Sasuke's hanging head from the ground, placing it in his lap and cradling it with his hands, feeling his neck to check for a pulse. Fortunately the young Uchiha let out a terrible gagging sound as his own blood pooled in his throat, letting Naruto know he was alive. Naruto balled up tight fists, "Itachi! How could you do that? ... To your own brother!" he added angrily, though his face showed more sadness than frustration. "When he wakes up..." The eldest Uchiha began as he perched himself on Naruto's shattered window frame, careful to avoid the sharp shards of glass, "Give him a message for me..." Naruto hesitantly listened, brushing Sasuke's black bangs out of his face stubbornly, "Tell him 'scarecrows weren't meant for more than one yard.'" The blonde kid didn't understand the coding, but he was sure to remember it. And with that, Itachi cloaked himself in his black cape and plunged himself into the mid-day city. Naruto carefully lifted his beaten teammate to his own bed, knowing how angry the younger Uchiha would t hit him for associating with Itachi so soon after being warned of the consequences. Inside a part of him quarreled with whether or not to just leave Sasuke at a hospital so he would not be forced to face him when he woke up, but when he saw those wounds and bruises, the blonde knew he couldn't leave his teammate like a coward-that wasn't his ninja way. Gently Naruto placed a few pillows under the back of Sasuke's head to cushion it, running to his cabinet and pulling out a large bottle of ointment. Sasuke stirred in his sleep, his chest heaving as he took deep, labored breaths, his teeth clenching as the pain in his stomach became more severe, his voice still scratchy and strained from Itachi's tough fingers. Naruto winced slightly at seeing the strong finger indentations that tattooed the younger Uchiha's pale neck, even shark nail marks dug in at the sides. The young blonde unscrewed the cap of his tube of ointment and scooped up a good-sized glob in the palm of his hand, first spreading the cold medicine on Sasuke's bleeding neck, noticing how the dark-haired boy bit his lip and clutched tightly to the sheets as it touched his opened skin, the burning and stinging seemed far worse than the wound itself. Without warning, Sasuke made a few more groaning sounds and suddenly threw his body weight over on the side to avoid more of the painful ointment, grimacing and nearly biting his tongue in two. Naruto sighed, grabbing his shoulders and straightening him, "It'll sting worse if ya' don't put the medicine on it." He said almost scoldingly, grabbing another palmful of ointment and staring at his mauled, torn open left arm, glass and flesh seemingly becoming one in him. The young fox let out a long breath, putting the medicine down and reaching to touch Sasuke's bloody appendage, his pearl blue eyes sharpening as he grabbed the first piece of sharp glass that was impaled in his wrist, thankfully missing any vital veins. Sasuke let out a wild yelp at the searing pain traveling through his body; an unfamiliar and wretched call that seemed so uncharacteristic of the young and stoic Uchiha. Naruto's hands shivered at that scream, wanting to cover his ears before he... Quickly the blonde yanked out the first shard of razor-sharp glass and let the bloody bastard fall to the floor. Sasuke again wailed in pain, this time his voice holding some sort of a whimpering sense, like a beaten dog, "Ahhh..." he took a pause to take in another breath and screamed again as Naruto grabbed another piece of glass between his fingers, "Ahhh!! Haa... haaa..." The young Uchiha huffed madly, sweat pouring down his forehead. "Stop it..." The young Uchiha was still far from consciousness, but continued to yell and thrash his limp body in pain and agony. "Stop it..." Naruto begged, tears cascading down his cheeks as he pulled the se pie piece of glass from the boy's palm, "Stop screaming like that..." he pleaded, unable to stand those terrible noises anymore. Sasuke continued to struggle in his confines as more and more glass was removed from his brittle skin, "Stop it! Stop it!" Naruto began to yell, dropping his teammate's arm to the bedside and holding his hands over his ears to drown out the sounds, "Stop it, stop it!" he begged again and again, but to no avise. The young patient gritted his teeth and grabbed handfuls of the blonde's mattress, feeling the painful absence of the cold glass, the sudden realization that he had torn his hand nearly to pieces hitting him. Naruto backed into the corner as Sasuke made more and more hideous sounds. The young blonde didn't want to be the source of that kind of pain anymore, he couldn't stand the guilt of knowing he was making his own friend scream like that. "Stop it! Stop screaming damn you!" The blonde ninja wailed from across his own bedroom, tears running off of his chin and smacking the wooden ground below his feet. Sasuke let out a final cry before the intensity of the pain in his arm was so great that his body shut itself down, his head falling to the pillow as he fainted quietly. Naruto breathed heavily, taking a cautious step forward to make sure he was asleep, and a second step. After finally reaching his bedside, the young blonde successfully came to the conclusion that he had passed out cold. He let out a relieved sigh and continued work on his shredded left hand, peeling out the remaining pieces of what was formerly his window and grabbing the ointment from the shelf. Carefully he blotted very small amounts on the open, deep cuts, carefully watching to see if his teammate reacted. Thankfully he didn't. Soon Naruto had wrapped the bloody hand in some gauze and bandages, looking over at his shelf filled with special medicines and ointments given to the young ninjas-in-training at the very beginning of their schooling, peering at every bottle carefully before finding the one he had been looking for. "Ah! Here it is!" he muttered before popping the small cap off and soaking his hands with a warm liquid. Calming liquid they called it. Supposedly it was used in battle when one was injured so badly they were rendered virtually unable to fight or even stand, the medicine was placed on the chest of the victim and it slowed their heart rate just enough that their bodies could not feel the pain for a few hours, giving them opportunity to escape or fight with their last ounce of strength. Naruto found it came in handy when trying to give himself that extra boost of energy. He figured Sasuke needed this type of painkiller now more than ever. The blonde took a deep breath before lifting up Sasuke's dark shirt, spreading the cold liquid on the youngest Uchiha's chest, watching as his teammate visibly calmed from the effects of the soothing medicine. Sasuke's heart slowed its beats as his blonde rival rubbed more of the medicine over his ribs. Normally Naruto wouldn't be caught dead touching Sasuke voluntarily, but when it came to helping his teammates, he was more than willing to embarrass himself. "Sasuke, Sasuke? Are you awake?" he asked quietly, poking at the Uchiha's forehead softly Sasuke let out a long groan as his black eyes fluttered open; his entire body feeling like it had been pulled through the figurative ringer. The youngest Uchiha took in a sharp breath, reaching down to touch his aching stomach with his cold pale hand, eyes widening as his hand didn't meet up with his own skin, but someone else's. Sasuke bolted up where he lay, discovering Naruto's hand tending to the wounds on his stomach, pulling down his shirt, and peering around the room. "Where's Itachi? Where the Hell is he?!" The youngest Uchiha shouted, already trying to escape from Naruto's bed to go and find him. Naruto grabbed his teammate's shoulders, "He already left, Sasuke." Sasuke grew quiet, falling back to Naruto's soft pillows and letting out a long sigh, "Naruto..." "Hm?" "Itachi... he, you might think you can trust him now but... he's too dangerous to involve yourself with. It's too risky..." The youngest Uchiha muttered quietly, grabbing his aching left arm in his opposite hand and taking a long look at the wrapping and bandaging his rival had done. Naruto sheepishly played with his fingers, "No one has cared for me like Itachi does..." a blush crept to his cheeks, "He treats me better than anyone else ever has. I think I love him." Sasuke couldn't stand hearing this anymore, "Dammit Naruto! This is ridiculous, Itachi doesn't care about you, he doesn't care about anyone but himself." "... He told me to give you a message..." Naruto suddenly interrupted, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible. The youngest Uchiha perked up, "What?" The blonde scratched his head nervously, trying to remember what Sasuke's older brother had told him earlier, "He said something... something like... 'Scarecrows weren't meant for more than one yard'... I didn't understand it but..." Naruto stopped mid-sentence at seeing Sasuke's very visible reaction to those words, his hands shaking, his eyes focused so intently on his own feet. "Th-That bastard..." Sasuke mumbled below his breath, slamming his eyelids shut, and gritting his teeth together angrily. Itachi knew, Itachi must've known that Kakashi and Sasuke were together, after all, Kakashi's name translated directly to the word 'scarecrow', after that the rest of the line was simple to figure out. Itachi was well aware that they were together, but that didn't explain why he was with Naruto. Suddenly the young Uchiealiealized his brother wasn't close anymore, he was wandering out in the city, possibly now targeting Kakashi, either to rekindle their relationship or to get revenge on the gray-haired Jounin. Sasuke's chest ached at the thought of finding Kakashi motionless on the ground, his blood soaking his student's hands, to find him like he had found the rest of his family-dead. Sasuke sprung up from where he lay, though his body still felt weak. "Hey, hey, where are you going?" Naruto questioned, grabbing his teammate's shoulder's to stop him from running out and doing something completely irrational. His rival ignored him, forcing himself out of the blonde's grip and heading to the door, his hands reaching at the crook of his neck and shoulder, "Arghh!" he shouted painfully, clawing at his curse seal with contempt as the terrible burden began to take affect, his anger spiraling out of control once again. Naruto ran after him as Sasuke toppled to the floor, still touching that damned seal with his fingers. "Dammit..." "Sasuke? Are you okay?" The blonde questioned, noticing the stress of moving around too much had caused the Uchiha's left arm to bleed over the bandages, spots of deep red clearly visible up and down his wraps. "It... it's that bruise, isn't it?" Sasuke bit his lip; he hated knowing he was too weak to control his own emotions, too weak to stop the curse from spreading to the remainder of his body. Slowly the painful marking spread from his neck down to the small of his back, the remainder covering his left arm in distinguishable black blots. "Ahh! Arghh... I... Itachi..." The youngest Uchiha lowered his forehead to the ground as more and more of the left side of his body was possessed by his inner demon. Naruto touched his back, "Sasuke, you have to fight it off!" he encouraged, gathering fists at his sides and leaning over to stare his teammate and friend in the eye, taken aback by the unfamiliar glare of a rich, red Sharingan staring back at him. "Get away from me!" Sasuke shouted, his blood boiling as he threw the blonde boy across the room with one swift push of his cursed left arm. Damn his body was aching all over, the cursed tattoo seemingly on fire over the length of his entire body; he couldn't stand this terrible feeling any longer. "I'm gonna' kill him, I'm gonna' kill him..." he swore aloud, his eyes much more fierce than Naruto had ever seen them. For the first time in his life, Naruto was frightened for his own safety when he was around Sasuke. Sasuke's fiery red eyes continued to blaze as he edged his way towards the door, absolutely bound and determined to find his brother and put an end to whatever scheme he had concocted. "Dammit, dammit, I'm going to rip him up... I'm going to make that bastard pay..." he cursed, still trying to walk under the intense burning that had surrounded his form. Sasuke pulled his weight on the floor one last time, his arms collapsing from exhaustion, his entire body falling helplessly to the carpeted doorway. His breathing grew heavily labored, his last few breaths desperate for oxygen before his black eyes rolled up in his head and the force of the strong curse caused him to black out completely. Naruto hurried over to his motionless teammate, "Hey! Hey Sasuke!" he slapped his pale cheek lightly, knowing this was possibly his one and only chance to get an easy hit on him. Sasuke's body still convulsed aovedoved during his unconscious state, his markings taking a while to fade. The young blonde worriedly watched as the curse returned to the triple slash mark on his pale neck. "He's still breathing but..." The young blonde knew he needed help, that he couldn't take care of Sasuke by himself, more than anything he needed someone who knew a lot more about the details of the curse seal than he did. Quickly Naruto threw on his navy blue sandals and inched towards the doorway of his home, staring back at his injured and unconscious teammate, his stomach flopping at the thought of leaving him alone. "Dammit..." he muttered, picking up Sasuke's limp body in his arms and heaving him on his back, holding his hands under the backs of the Uchiha's knees to support him. "Argh, you fatty. Lose some weight." Naruto grumbled angrily as he was forced to carry someone about his same size and weight, still managing to make his way outside. On his back Sasuke let out a long, agonizing groan, showing the pain from all his injuries were still very much alive in his body. Naruto swallowed his guilt. He had invited the enemy in, he had been the reason Sasuke was so concerned about his safety, why he had risked his life for him, why he was in the condition he was in now. It pained the blonde to know that. At any rate, he needed to find someone with at least some clue as to how to subdue the curse. Suddenly a name popped in his head, atheather a goofy, masked face. "That's it! I need to find Kakashi..." Author's Notes: Well, what to say about this chapter, you can take it however you want I guess, because I'm pretty damn fickle-minded. I personally like the idea of a painkiller ointment, like Vics vapor rub for druggies lol. Plus I just was lacking any lemony-ness in this chapter, so I had to have Naruto touch Sasuke one way or another, so that's basically the only reason for that. I'm a pretty avid Kaka x Sasu fangirl, but basically I think all pairings have their cute little appeals. EXCEPT for Sasu x Saku, that's just major evil with a capital E!