Under The Enemy's Roof

Author's Notes: The first chapter of what looks like will be a very long, 20 chapter+ story. The plot was actually concieved by TJ (xxinexpressiblexx@hotmail.com), and I simply agreed to write it. It's actually really interesting and original, so I hope that I can do it justice. Reviews are always welcome!


Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.


Under the Enemy's Roof
chapter i

The day was hot and sultry as the shadows flitted playfully beneath Naruto’s sneakered feet, tumbling in waves and spurts in marbled patterns over the concrete as flocks of birds flew overhead. Tilting his head back so his brilliant eyes reflected the lazy tufts of clouds floating above, the boy grinned as he watched the fleeting formations in the sky. It was a rare warm autumn day, with the leaves radiating their bare colors proudly and the breeze darting flirtatiously around the hems of shirts and collars.

Naruto was making his way back from the bus stop to his tiny house amid the tranquil meadows and shrubbery surrounding the farmland. He breathed in the fresh air deeply, reveling in the slightly salty scent of the wind. He never tired of the countryside where his grandmother had lived until she had passed away a few weeks ago. He had always treasured his memories of frolicking gleefully through the fields chasing after insects or trying to grab the wily carp in the small pond behind the property with his bare hands. Naruto had always been so happy spending time with his kindly grandmother, tending the garden or folding paper cranes. It had always been so peaceful, so serene, and so far away from the bustle of the oppressive city.

There were no malicious glares waiting for him here. There were no misplaced limbs that would trip him as he walked through aisles and hallways. There were no jabbing laughs and accusing fingers. There were no lonely lunch periods when he would wander aimlessly over campus, just trying to wait the day out. But most of all, there was no Uchiha Sasuke.

Thank god, there was no sullen bastard who would sit in the back of the class and stare back at everyone with his scowl-smirk running smugly over his face as he pointedly ignored everyone and everything–including Naruto. The blonde boy growled as memories of the first day of school darted across his mind like an annoying cockroach just waiting to be squashed. He had been trying to be friendly, friendly to someone who looked just as lonely as he felt on the inside. He had thought that maybe the dark-haired boy would accept him, maybe even appreciate him if he grinned nice and wide and asked if they could eat lunch together. But Sasuke wanted nothing of it. Instead, he turned on his heel with a grunt and walked away as if he were walking away from some crippled insect he had found on the street.

He sighed as he thanked the gods for the millionth time that week that he was no longer part of that world; that screeching, smothering, spinning world of unspoken cruelties and betrayal. Now he was far, far away from everything in a place where no one knew him and no one hated him, and where he could finally enjoy his days out in the open instead of in some dark corner.

His round face broke out in a wide smile as he spotted the small house amidst the surrounding trees. Breaking out in a run, Naruto sprinted down the well-worn path to the cozy rooms full of sunshine and joy. He flew past his grandmother’s endearing collection of windmills in the front yard and some of the atrocious lawn ornaments she had been known to keep stubbornly planted in the ground. After throwing open the door with an unceremonious bang and stumbling over his own laces to get them untied, Naruto finally announced, “Tadaima ”

The entire house shook in silent answer as the boy frowned disappointedly into the seemingly empty house. He sniffed the air, experimentally searching for any sign of his mother’s cooking, and scrunched his nose to find another putrid stench coming from the next room over.

“Okaasan?” called Naruto hesitantly as he let his bookbag slide to the floor. It was unlike his mother to forget any special occasion, and, even if she did forget this special occasion, Naruto grimaced, at least she would have been home to cook dinner. He padded silently through the dark hallway and into the kitchen, where he was greeted with the sight of several cookbooks spread over the counter. He smiled, relieved that his mother hadn’t forgotten the day, but immediately frowned again as the air around him grew even heavier with the same foul stench from before.

“Okaasan?” called the blonde again, as he slowly approached the door that separated the living room and the kitchen. “Are you-"


* * * * * * *

Naruto sat on the brick steps of his grandmother’s porch, watching the blue and red lights dance across the crisp October night. His eyes, normally sparkling and full of life, were dull and dead as he stared past the hordes of police and detectives who had flooded the yellow-taped area. Outside of that flimsy boundary stood countless neighbors and classmates who looked in with unveiled curiosity and fear. Children were tucked in protectively against adult bodies, and once-friendly smiles were now disapproving frowns. Naruto simply bit his lip and turned his head back up to the faded stars shining weakly through the thin layer of clouds.

He barely noticed when a well-dressed woman approached him through the sea of strangers. She had a lovely face that was framed with luxurious black hair. Naruto flinched when she laid her elegant fingers on his shoulder gently. Snapping his head down from the sky, he looked at her with a pair of bewildered eyes. His body tensed, and he was about to draw back until her pretty mouth broke out in a soft smile.

“Happy birthday, Naruto-kun.”

* * * * * * *

The house loomed darkly over him as he approached it in the beautifully crafted car. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the passenger window and watched the garage open its mouth ominously, swallowing him and the woman. He felt uneasy being with the mysterious woman, though he didn’t know why. He felt as if something about her was strangely familiar, something about her movements and onyx eyes and ivory skin and raven hair and cool exterior that seemed to make his body bristle.

He yawned as he mindlessly exited the parked car, his mind still reeling from the events of the day. Naruto automatically found images of blood and dead gazes invading his mind, and quickly shook them out, preferring instead to focus on his current situation.

He had found his parents dead on the living room floor when he had come home from school. It had been a bloody and brutal deed, sadistic and deliberate, with their necks wrapped in layers of congealing blood from where the knife had slashed through their throats. The detectives had called it, ever so nonchalantly, ‘a traditional affair,’ and muttered something like ‘who killed with swords these days anyway’ as they scribbled absentmindedly on their notepads.

Naruto’s parents had been killed–traditionally, beheaded and left without any chance of survival-- on his thirteenth birthday.

He didn’t have any relatives, or even any friends, that he could go to. It seemed that his family had always been the loner type, plowing valiantly forward alone without the support of anyone else. Naruto smiled wanly as he realized that his parents probably didn’t think that they’d be taken down by some katana-wielding psychopath before he was of legal age. They hadn’t even saved enough for him to pay a month’s worth of rent alone. They had been a spontaneous family, brash and carefree, caring little of the next month’s bills. They had lived day-by-day, caring only for their own happiness and pleasure and principles.

But now they were gone, and Naruto, he was all alone in the world. He had been so alone that the police could only muster up enough information to tie him to the doctors who had delivered him thirteen years ago. If it had been any other day, the blonde would have broken out laughing at his predicament. His parents had been such outcasts of society that they didn’t even have a close friend to send him to. The closest they had were the doctors and nurses who had worked with them thirteen years ago. It was so pathetic that it broke his heart.

His new guardian flicked the light switch on as they entered the living room. It was a well-furnished house, filled with imported and handcrafted goods that sat proudly in their shelves against the white-washed walls. Naruto shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he made his way past the sterile rug and stark walls. Although the rooms were all lavishly decorated, they all seemed unlived in, almost uninhabitable.

The woman before him smiled kindly at him before walking off into the other room. Naruto grimaced as he heard whisperings behind the screen door and something that sounded like a sharp reprimand. After a few minutes of awkward silence, the screen door reopened, revealing his softly-smiling guardian who had now shed her lab coat and slipped into a pair of heeled shoes, which, though strange by custom, seemed to fit the regal atmosphere of the luxurious house.

“Naruto-kun, I would like to introduce you to your brother.”

With that, she moved aside, revealing a young boy about Naruto’s age who was sulking dangerously behind the elegant cake that he held before him. For a second, the blonde lost his breath as he took in the beautiful lines of the boy’s pale face. His blue eyes traced over the well-defined jaw and feminine curve of his cheek, framed by his mother’s ebony hair. His eyes, though black, shone like onyx set in white gold, cold yet alluringly elegant. However, upon closer inspection, Naruto came to a realization.

“You–“

The blonde boy trembled with both shock and anger while the other simply rolled his eyes and looked away, apparently bored with the introduction.

“What the hell?!” exploded Naruto as he bolted up and pointed an accusing finger toward the other boy. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

The dark-haired boy simply tsked at the other, wholly expecting the explosion, and replied, “I live here, dobe.”

Enraged, Naruto stalked up to the other. “What the hell do you mean, teme?!”

The other boy merely sighed and said, “I mean, I live here.”

Naruto fumed.

“Oh,” the brunette started, “and happy birthday.” Then, with a swift flick of the wrist, he sent the delicately decorated cake flying against the other’s shirt with a splat. Turning on his heel, the blonde’s new-found brother retreated swiftly, making sure to close the screen door tightly after him.

Naruto simply stared, quivering with rage.

'Unbelievable', the blonde thought. 'Just fucking unbelievable.'

Naruto was now living under the same roof as Uchiha Sasuke.