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The Threads that Bind Us	By : Rosebud Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1294 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: I do Not own Naurto. I make no money from this fic. Also, I do not own Transformers, Ivory Spring of Zest Soap, The novel: To Kill a Mocking Bird, CNN…or anything else that I may have mentioned by name, that has copy rights.

The Threads that Bind Us

Written By: Crimson2006

Beta: The Very Awesome BlooShadowFox

Chapter 2

When Naruto opened his eyes it was already dark out. The evening shadows dancing across the white walls, expelling dark threads that crept along the surface like moving hands—the illusion of creatures stirring within the night. Still, despite such an ominous setting, the blue-eyed child couldn’t help but smile. His small body nestled against the warmth of Sasuke’s chest –the man having obviously drifted off too– as the comforting aroma of the older man calmed his nerves, lulling him back into a promising state of rest…

It only took three-point-five more seconds to realize where he was and what the darkness surrounding him implied.

“Oh shit!” He yelled, bolting upright. The sudden jerk causing his mild headache to return full-throttle. "Oh fuck!!!”

“Dobe, what’s wrong?”

“No, nothing, my guardian Kyuubi… he’s going to kill me!” Naruto explained falling off the bed in the dark; unceremoniously landing on the floor with painful thud. “Damn it…” he groaned, suffering not only from the pain in his head, but the awkward way that he’d landed on his back.

Sasuke merely smirked and fiddled with the light switch on the elaborate Tiffany lamp that was perched beside his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he waited for them to adjust. “Usuratonkachi, relax. I’ll go over and explain that you were with—“

“NO!” Naruto yelled, flipping himself upright so that he was half hanging over the side of the bed. No matter what happened, Kyuubi could not know that he’d been over at Sasuke’s. His guardian had been perfectly clear that he was not to leave the apartment steps, not even to go to a friend’s house. If Kyuubi found out that he’d been sleeping over at Sasuke’s, the blonde feared that he might never get to visit with the raven haired man again.

“You can’t talk to Kyuubi. I’ll handle this myself.” He replied in a serious tone that left no room for argument.

One dark eyebrow rose, but no words followed. Sasuke wasn’t sure why, but it appeared that Naruto wanted to keep their friendship a secret and that was alright by him. He just didn’t want the boy getting into unnecessary trouble, and he personally didn’t see any harm in informing this ‘Kyuubi’ person that Naruto had spent the day with him. Besides, how was the blonde going to explain the scratch on his elbow and then bump on his head? After all, Sasuke had hit Naruto with a lamp—having mistook him for a thief.

Scrabbling to his feet, Naruto patted down his hair, rubbed his eyes clear of any sleep and attempted to smooth out the many wrinkles in his clothes. “Thanks for taking care of me Sasuke-kun. But I have got to go home now.” Without waiting for a reply Naruto darted for the door and was half-way down the steps before Sasuke’s mind caught up with the boy’s actions.

“Naruto, wait!” The blonde hadn’t mentioned anything about coming back over or hanging out again and Sasuke was worried that maybe Naruto didn’t want to be his friend. After spending so many years in solitude, he didn’t want to lose the one ray of hope that had suddenly descended into his life.

Sasuke realized that on so many levels, it was absurd to feel that way after spending only a few hours in the same room with the boy, but there was just something between him and Naruto that clicked. Almost like love at first sight. But in this case it was light chasing away darkness –the feeling of falling, but knowing that someone was there to catch you. Sasuke felt safe with the child and he was sure that the boy felt the same way about him.

Stopping at the bedroom door the raven looked down the long, dark hallway, just staring into the mouth of madness—into the eternal breath of night that always seemed to sweep him away. Suddenly, he didn’t want to be alone anymore; his mind lingering in places that he’d rather forget existed. At least until Naruto’s voice caught the air and startled him back to reality.

“Ne Sasuke, I have to go home. But we can hang out later!” And with that the front door slammed shut.

The raven just stood there in the dark. The house that he’d lived in for two years now, never seeming as empty or cold as it did then. The blond had brought with him an unexpected light, and now that the child had slipped away, that feeling of happiness was left to linger in essence. It was like living in a memory and knowing that it was not the real thing. Bittersweet, tolerable and yet somehow not satisfying in its own sense. It was a feeling of being incomplete and it startled Sasuke. Not so much that he had been so empty –because he had already known about that– but rather because the blonde had made him feel so complete.

‘Come back and visit me soon Usuratonkachi…’

…

Kyuubi was pissed. He had specifically told the blonde to stay at home and what exactly had he come home to… an empty house, that’s what. Ever since the accident that had killed Naruto’s parents, Kyuubi had been trying his best to fix up his own life and repair the child’s as well. He’d made a grave mistake on that day, nearly six years ago, and he was planning on spending the rest of his life trying to make up for it. Had he known that he would steal a child’s parents away –taken away the boy’s childhood and slaughter it permanently– then he would have never gotten into that truck; he would have never turned the key in the ignition and started driving. No amount of words would ever express his sorrow or change the outcome of that day. He’d hoped that in raising Naruto he could somehow come out even. That he could make the boy happy and fix the broken gap in the child’s life.

But as of the moment, he was finding it extremely hard to keep that goal in mind. In fact, all he really wanted to do was go out and hunt down the blonde and then argue with himself over kicking the child’s ass or holding him in his arms and never letting him go. The latter was the right thing to do, but the former sound so damn tempting. Kyuubi was about mid-rant in his mental state of furry, when he heard the front door burst open. Without giving it a second thought, his head jerked upward and he spoke the first thing that was on his mind.

“WHERE IN THE SEVEN HELLS HAVE YOU BEEN?!”

Naruto’s back was suddenly pressed against the door that he’d just closed, terror dancing in his blue eyes. Kyuubi had never hurt him before, so he didn’t really have the privilege to fear for his life, but he wasn’t exactly feeling a lack of danger at the moment. Typically the red-head would just yell and him and put him on ramen suspension for a few weeks. But tonight Kyuubi looked like a red eyed demon that has been spawned from the depths of hell; his deadly features enhanced as he stood under the pale luminescence that filtered in through the patio window.

“Answer me!” The elder growled and Naruto tensed when he realized just how close Kyuubi had gotten. His guardian was now looming over him; one arm to each side, palms splayed wide, pinning Naruto to the wall.

“I…” The blonde tried to open his mouth, but nothing would come out. He didn’t know what to say and his mind was buzzing around at a hundred miles a minute. The glare he was receiving from Kyuubi wasn’t helping either.

“You what?” came another growl, the voice wavering dangerously for reasons that Naruto didn’t realize. Being so close, Kyuubi was able to pick the faint hint of vanilla lingering over the boy’s body, a scent that Kyuubi normally didn’t associate the child with.

If the elder had to put a tag on Naruto, he’d say the boy smelt like a summer’s breeze with a hint of something wild. Not really a feminine fragrance, but still something softer then pine or sandalwood. Vanilla however, was nowhere in that combination. “Who were you with?”

Cerulean eyes widened in shock, and Kyuubi’s frown increased. ”Fuck, you better just spit it out. I’ve been pacing the floors for the last six hours wondering where you were. I have Kiba, Gaara and even Neji out looking for you Naruto! I told you not to leave the front steps, and you disobeyed me!”

The rage in Kyuubi’s voice continued to escalate and Naruto shivered in fear, but refused to reply. Instead, he simply listened to the angry words of his caretaker and did his best to fight back his tears.

“What the hell were you thinking? Can you at least tell me that! Don’t you realize that I was worried about you?” The hand to the right of Naruto’s head fisted, pulled back and then struck the wall, making a good sized dent. “FOR FUCKS SAKE NARUTO, SAY SOMETHING!”

“I-I-I’m sorry.” He wailed—the reserve of waterworks that had been slowly mounting, finally erupted at full force. “I’m sorry Kyu. I didn’t mean to make you worry… I didn’t mean to make you mad… “Naruto’s words were broken in sobs, each syllable cracked and brittle as if it were made from delicate like glass. “I’m sorry…so sorry. It’s all my fault…”

Kyuubi froze at the indication of those last few words and realized that the blonde was no longer apologizing for running off on his own, but something else entirely different… Naruto was blaming himself for the crash. For a moment, the elder just stood there, listening to the boy’s ongoing mantra—the same four words repeating over and over again before he got hit with a harsh wave of guilt. The matter of ‘who had been responsible’ was actually a topic that they’d gone over a million times before, but the conversation usually went around in a circle with little to no accomplishment being made. Naruto would constantly blame himself for the accident and Kyuubi would reassure the blonde that it wasn’t his fault.

In some sick, tragic way, it was like a never ending war between them, one that Naruto seemed to be more strategically prepared for. Sadly, their battles were not ones that you wanted to win, and although Kyuubi was doing his best to take care of the blonde, he felt that in some way, it just wasn’t enough. The cries, tears and broken child standing before him, told volumes of his failure to patch the boy up and it made him reassess the picture.

‘I need to try harder.’

Taking that to mind, Kyuubi began the difficult task of calming the blonde down.

“Shhhhh, Naruto it’s okay.” By now all the rage had fled, replaced with regret and concern. He shouldn’t have yelled at the boy like that, it hadn’t done either of them any good. In fact –if anything– all Kyuubi had managed to do was make the situation worse.

Carefully he scooped up the boy in his arms and petted his hair gently; long boney fingers tangling in the tress of yellow silk. “It wasn’t your fault. It’s alright.” He lulled, but Naruto continued to shake violently, the same words slipping past his lips almost as if he had no idea that he was still saying them. “Come on now, I’m not mad anymore. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. I love you Naruto. I just… got scared okay? Do you think you can forgive me? How about I make you some ramen and then we can start over again, alright?”

Much to Kyuubi’s relief the boy quieted down at those words, but that feeling did not last long when Naruto leaned forward and pressed his head against Kyuubi’s strong shoulder, mumbling something nearly incoherent. “I don’t want any ramen.” And then just like that, Naruto pushed himself free and padded down the hallway; his motions faulting from their normally cheerful step into something withered and broken. Every step seemed unnaturally painful to enact, almost as if each foot were made of lead—the rise and fall of the sole barely leaving the floor. Naruto’s head was hung down, and even though he wasn’t sobbing, Kyuubi could feel the pain radiating off him.

“Naru-Chan…” By now the red-head was thoroughly worried. Naruto never, ever turned down Ramen.

“Just leave me alone…‘Kay?”

The words were like the eye of a storm, stirring everything at its core and granting motion to a force worthy of destruction. In Kyuubi’s mind there were about a thousand red flags going off and all of them were screaming danger. It was one thing if Naruto had asked for a moment to collect himself… but to be left alone? No. Naruto hated being alone. That was why Kyuubi allowed Naruto to go outside when he was gone. At least sitting there on the steps he could watch other people pass by—it wasn’t like he was trapped inside the empty apartment for hours on end, because if Naruto was subjected to something like that, then he would have surely gone mad long ago. The boy was in constant need of either being around or interacting with other people.

When Kyuubi had first adopted Naruto, he'd actually had a problem with the child’s disregard for personal space. Even though the man had agreed to be the boy’s guardian, he wasn’t so sure that he could do the whole ‘comfort deal.’ Kyuubi had never been exposed to any form of love –not even by his own parents– when he was growing up. So it had been hard for him to both receive and deliver the tender emotion to such a needy child.

But Naruto had refused to give up on him; always snuggling up to him or initiating some kind of contact –whether it was a kiss on the cheek or a simply passing of their hands. And over time Kyuubi had learned to adjust. He’d learned to hold the boy’s hand while they were walking down the street, or cuddle together while watching a movie. Hell, these days it wasn’t even an odd occurrence for Naruto to crawl in bed with him and become temporality attached to arm or chest. The blonde was all about touching and feeling… and for him to ask to be alone –especially after what happened– it unnerved Kyuubi to no end.

“Naruto stop.” He called, taking a few deep steps forward and latching on to the other’s arm. Broken blue eyes turned to look at him and a sharp fit of pain seized Kyuubi’s chest. “What can I do to make it better?”

The blonde shrugged and after a long time answered, “I don’t know.”

Kyuubi just shook his head and pulled the twelve-year old into his arms; thankful when Naruto didn’t protest. The two of them just stood there disregarded to time, the silence of night calming their nerves.

…

“A babysitter,” Naruto scoffed, looking at Kyuubi like he was out of his mind.

The older man shook his head and flipped over the six, silver dollar pancakes that he had cooking on the grill. “No, it a community recreational center that gives kids the opportunity to interact with other kids their age. Since I got that job I thought it’d be a good place for you to hang out. And they have a tutor program, so they’ll be someone there to help you with your home studies. What do you think?”

“I think that you’re trying to keep tabs on me.”

Kyuubi frowned, he was not at all happy by Naruto’s response. It had been three days and he still hadn’t been able to get the boy to ‘spill the beans,’ as they say, and fess up to who he’d been hanging out with. It had been a little discouraging at first, but that annoyance was quickly growing to immeasurable heights. Tomorrow was his first day at his new job, and he didn’t really feel comfortable in leaving Naruto home alone.

For the last two years Kyuubi had been on Welfare, which had allowed him the privilege of staying home with the boy. Since Naruto did home school –as requested by his former therapist and appointed by the court– it was critical that there was someone to watch over him. It was a proposal that had favored them both.

That was until recently.

Apparently the courts deemed it fit that Naruto would be re-enrolled into a public school starting later that year. Kyuubi was apprehensive about the matter to say the least, seeing as Naruto had previously had a lot of problems with the school system. Even though the blonde was a sweetheart, a few of the popular kids hadn’t taken a liking that some of their groupies were hanging out with a kid who wasn’t exactly top-ten on the wealthy list and had therefore, dedicated their lives to making Naruto’s a living hell.

The said bullies –for a lack of better words– apparently had connections at other schools and so even after transferring to a new district, Naruto had been constantly harassed. In the end, everyone had thought it best to have the blonde home school for a while, but apparently that time was up. Kyuubi had yet to break it to the boy, but he figured that Naruto would catch on eventually, especially with the sudden career change from stay at home dad to workaholic.

In a vain attempt to prep the boy, he’d also figured that he could mention the community center, hoping that maybe Naruto could make a few good friends there and then start the new school year off with a little bit of support. But judging by the look on the others face, he had an odd feeling that Naruto was going to object.

“I don’t know… Why can’t I just hang out with Gaara? He’s home schooled, too, ya know.”

“Yes, I know he is, but that’s not the point. I want you to make new friends. What’s the big deal? I thought you’d be happy to get out of the house.”

“I’d rather just sit out on the steps if it’s all the same to you.”

Shoveling the pancakes off the grill and onto a plate, Kyuubi poured out some more batter and motioned for child to come get his food. “You do realize that you can’t spend your whole life sitting on those steps, don’t you? I mean, I don’t know exactly what it is that you do out there –other then watch people walk by– but it’s not a healthy activity. You need to do something more constructive.”

“You can learn a lot from simply watching someone.” Naruto corrected; offended that Kyuubi would belittle him like that.

“I don’t doubt it… but you need to start interacting with other people, not just me, Gaara, Kiba and Neji. You know, try to find someone that’s closer to your age—“

“Neji’s fourteen, for crying out loud!” Naruto interjected. “He’s only two years older than me!”

Kyuubi shook his head. “But I don’t like Neji.”

“And what’s wrong with Kiba?”

“He’s three years your senior and he’s way too loud.”

“That’s a piss-poor excuse Kyu.” The blonde reprimanded. “Of course, we all know how much you dislike Gaara, ne?”

“Don’t get me started on that one.” The elder warned.” Besides, you’re right. I do want to keep tabs on you. I don’t like it that you won’t tell me where you were. It makes me think that you were doing something that you shouldn’t have been.”

Naruto shrugged a shoulder and slapped a heaping spoon of butter onto his pancakes before proceeding to add way too much syrup. “I told you before, it wasn’t like that.”

“Yeah, well that bump on your head and that scratch on your arm says otherwise. I can’t believe that you think I wouldn’t notice.”

“I took you a while though.” the child noted before cramming a wad of pancakes into his mouth. After he’d thoroughly cleaned his plate, and in the process sucked up about a half-a-pound of sugar, he gave a sheepish grin. “I can go outside now?”

“No. What part of grounded didn’t you understand?”

“The part where you’d actually hold me too it…” Naruto grumbled, not happy about his punishment. “Look can I invite Gaara over, then? Or Kiba? I don’t really want to hang out with you right now. Not until you dislodge that stick you got crammed up your ass."

Kyuubi frowned, “Watch your mouth Naruto, or I’ll stuff a bar of soap in there and help you clean it out.”

The blonde suddenly paled. “Eewwww, No thanks Kyu!” On more than one occasion Naruto had subjected himself to that punishment and he had grown to dislike Zest and Ivory Springs more than any person should ever harbor a dislike towards soap. Hell, he’d freely give up ramen for a week rather than suffer through that punishment. Not that he’d be eager to consume any kind of food if he did get chastised; seeing as everything he’d eat for the following week would taste like soap.

Reaching out to grab another plate, the red-head piled up his stack of fluffy pancakes before snagging the almost empty container of syrup. A red eyebrow twitched in agitation and flaming orbs skewered the blonde, “Next time, why don’t you spare me the trouble and just drink the syrup. I’m going to have to go to the market now.”

At the mention of shopping, Naruto felt his heart flutter. It was Tuesday which meant that Sasuke would be going to the market. Since Kyuubi had grounded him Saturday night, he hadn’t been allotted the chance to go outside. It had nearly killed him to miss Sunday, knowing that Sasuke would have probably let him go over and visit while he read his book under the shade.

Naruto wasn’t much of a reader himself, but he would commit to literature if it meant spending more time with the older teen. In fact, in absence of not being able to see Sasuke on Sunday, he’d opted to clean his room just to find a book –in case he was invited to read in the upcoming weeks– discovering none other than ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ underneath his bed. It wasn’t his first choice but it seemed classy enough and there was no doubt in Naruto’s mind that Sasuke was very prestige as some might call it. And he wanted the raven to see that he could be that way too.

Yes, that’s right. Naruto wanted to impress Sasuke. Why? Well there were many reasons for it. He didn’t want his new friend to think that he was stupid. And since Sasuke was older, by a whole five years, Naruto wanted to make sure that he could keep up. It sounded absurd, but some part of him was worried that Sasuke wouldn’t like him if he wasn’t smart enough. He was sure that the older teen wouldn’t want to talk about what happened last week on ‘Transformers’ or what flavor of ramen was the best. Sasuke seemed too mature for things like that. He probably watched CNN and tracked the stock market… or something like that. At least if Naruto had read a few classic books, then maybe he could hold the man’s interest for a little while longer. And maybe he could talk Kyuubi into giving him a little extra money so he could buy another book –one that he might actually find pleasurable to read– along with a newspaper and a dictionary.

“I’ll go.” He volunteered.

Inside Kyuubi flinched, a trail of red flags soaring upward from half-mast to full alert. Naruto hated going to the Market because he always got stomped on, denied what he wanted and lost, all within the first five minutes of showing up.

The town where they lived was a bit old fashion in some sense and the Market was more of a district –a three block stretch of vendors– rather than a single store. Grant you that there were shops on both sides of the street, fancying everything from exotic food to common milk, bread and cheese, but there were also booths set up along the way; personal stands that housed fruits and vegetables from individual farmers. And although most venders sold food, there were ones that retailed knickknacks and homemade items—a regular farmer’s market/crafts convention if Kyuubi did say so.

On one of their first trips after moving to the new town, Kyuubi had discovered that sending Naruto to the Market was not a good idea. Although the boy lavished in the attention of others, he was a bit claustrophobic—okay very claustrophobic, to the point where he was hyperventilating could be a pending cause of death. Thus sticking him in with a horde of crazy shopper’s had not been the best idea and had resulted in Naruto passing out in the middle of the crowded street. After that, Kyuubi had never made the boy go there again, and yet the blonde was asking to go now? Something seemed off.

“What about your condition Naruto?”

Naruto gnawed on his lower lip, realizing that he hadn’t exactly figured that part out. But he really wanted to see Sasuke. “I’ll keep to outskirts of the street. As long as I don’t get pushed into the middle I’ll be ok. Besides, I need to get out and get some fresh air before I develop cabin-fever.”

“Point taken.” Kyuubi mused. After all, Naruto had been acting a little strange these last few days. The boy had actually cleaned his room—without being asked. Kyuubi had felt the need to pinch himself repeatedly when he’d seen that. Still, the whole cleaning fiasco was a minor stroke in comparison to the full blown heart attack he’d received, when he went to tuck Naruto in and the boy was reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ At that point Kyuubi was just about willing to believe that Naruto had been abducted by aliens and brainwashed into being a dignified twelve-year old. But he quickly realized that such a theory was preposterous, because nobody could brainwash Naruto into being decorous. Not even aliens.

Honestly though, all kidding aside, he was really starting to worry about the blonde.

“Alright, you can go…”

“YES!” Naruto punched the air wildly and did a little swirl.

Kyuubi just shook his head and chuckled darkly—knowing that if Naruto’s actions were anything to consider, then the mystery person that the blonde had been hanging with on Saturday, would most likely be at the Market. “But I’m going with you.”

‘DAMN IT!’

TBC...
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The Threads that Bind Us