Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Scared Stiff	By : Ljiljana Category: Naruto AU/AR > General Views: 1239 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 5
- 6
- 7
Hopefully someone still remembers this story. It is my personal
favorite, so� It feels like I�m starting all over
again.
Warnings
for the story: Think of the highest rating you know and put it here! There will
be sexual content, character death (minor), crime scene described in details,
some religious references, blood sports, politics, drug misuse in several ways
(not described in details), forms of terrorism� I can�t
think of anything else at the moment, but I will give warnings for each
chapter.� ��

Part
6

�� Naruto
The
low buzzing of the doorbell woke him up.

Naruto
hated that thing--passionately.
He
was only half awake and still very tired. A
quick check of the alarm clock next to his bed explained why: he had
been asleep for less then three hours. For a moment, he wished that
he could ignore it and go back to sleep.

He
had this dream often. He never quite managed to remember
specific details. Only that the dream was nice, warm, and white.
That he would be floating through it, almost free. Almost
happy.

Naruto
groaned into his pillow.  Answering the door was his
responsibility. It wasn�t half bad most of the
time. There really was no excuse for him not to open the door, because getting
in bed late � err, early had been his own mistake.

Patience
is a virtue. � He thought, pulling on his pants. The
bell echoed through his apartment for a second time. - So wait.

Technically,
the place Naruto lived in wasn't exactly an apartment.
It was just a huge space on two levels that had been, years ago, a storage room
or something like that. From his bed, Naruto could see almost everything;
the center of apartment where the television was, Sakura�s books in the corner,
the dining space. Kakashi had found it five years ago. Back then it had been horrible to look at, dirty and
full of broken glass.

They
had cleaned it up � well, Naruto had.. He'd painted the walls, bought some furniture, and installed
a fully functional kitchen in the lower part.

Maybe it
wasn't an apartment, but� It was home.

The
bell rang for the third time when Naruto was half way down the stairs.
This time it was a handful of short buzzes. Only two types of people rang
like that: desperate ones, and Sasuke.

Naruto
knew it wasn't Sasuke. Naruto could smell him
five streets away.

It
was a male, though. Young and upset � maybe even scared.  Mutant, too.

Which meant that Naruto�s instincts were, once again, right.  It
was time to earn his keep.

He
opened the panel in the door first to get a good look at whoever was
outside. It was a useless precaution most of the time; the hole was big
enough for all kinds of dangerous things to pass through. He did it
anyway, because Sakura insisted on it.

There
was a boy � fifteen, maybe sixteen years old on the other side of the door,
rubbing his arms and shivering. His cloths and hair stated clearly he didn�t belong on this side of the river; maybe even that he
was all the way from Sasuke�s neighborhood. Naruto was still too sleepy to go
that far.

�Hi.�
Naruto said. He had felt the urge to say �Yes?�, but that would be a
mistake with this kid. He looked uneasy and anxious as it was; if Naruto
addressed him in such official manner, he might chicken out.

�Hi.�
The boy said. �You�re Naruto?�

Naruto
nodded, smiling.

�I
need help.� The boy looked quickly left and right, as if someone was
following him. It was not impossible, but on his left side � Naruto�s
right � there was only a wall. The entrance into the building was in the
blind alley. Naruto had problems keeping it clear of bums and dealers,
but the hardest part was stopping people from dropping their garbage in front
of his door.

The
alley was clean and there was nothing for a would-be stalker to hide
behind, which said very little, but Naruto knew there was no one there. He
trusted his nose well enough to turn around and let the boy in.

�Do
you want something to drink?�

This
was the easy part. He would give them something to drink, and point out
the couch in the middle of the room in front of the television. When they
started feeling somewhat safer, Naruto would start to ask questions and listen.

After
a short pause, he got an answer:

�Something
warm, if you have it.�

He
did have it, as it was something else Sakura insisted
on. Naruto was good at following her rules, because they worked. Usually.

�What�s
your name?� Naruto asked from the kitchen.

�I��
The boy started, and gave up with the sigh. �Konohamaru.�

He
was quiet after that, staring blankly at nothing in particular.
Naruto concentrated on Konohamaru's scent, gathering information.
The kid was scared all right. His scent was overflowing with
guilt and mourning.

Guilt. In mourning.

Somebody
was dead. For this, Naruto would have to call Kakashi.

A
few minutes later, Naruto put hot cocoa in front of the boy.

�I�m
too old for cocoa.� Konohamaru said, frowning in a way that made him look like
he was exactly the right age for it. Namely, seven.

�If
I�m not too old for cocoa, neither are you.� Naruto told him.

The
boy took the mug in shaking hands, and sipped. It was apparently good
(and it should be, Naruto had made it exactly how he made it for himself)
because he continued to empty it in giant swallows until he made an odd,
sobbing sound and started choking.

�I�m
sorry!� The boy said when Naruto hit him in the back. �I killed my
best friend!�

�I
have more of that, if you want.� Naruto said, ignoring the confession for
a moment, and offering some time to the kid. It was all he could do, and
it wasn't like he was surprised.

Konohamaru
shook his head.

�Okay
then. Tell me what happened.�
The
boy looked at him, searching his face. Satisfied with what he found
there, he sighed once more, preparing to talk.

This was
why it was Naruto's job to do this. People liked him, trusted him for
some reason. Kakashi was the one with all the connections in the right
places, and he organized all this � a safe place for mutants in trouble to go to,
to seek help. Naruto was the one to take them in, feed them, warm them,
make them feel as safe as possible, and listen to their stories.

He
never asked for more than they wanted to tell.

They
always wanted to tell him everything.

�I�
I don�t know, but he's dead and I was the only one
there.  The door was locked.� Konohamaru stressed, like he was getting rid of a burden. But
if he was telling the truth, this would not be a burden he would
get rid of so easily. �I woke up, and he was laying
there, bloody and cold. Dead.�

�So,
you don�t remember?�

�No,
I�� He glanced at Naruto again, embarrassed for some reason. �I
sort of have double personality. Body and mind and �
everything. I�m me, and sometimes� a girl.�

Oh.
Naruto never heard about that one before, but he remembered vaguely asking
Sakura once if she was like that. That day was not something he wanted to
remember so he pushed it away.

Konohamaru
added, �But I don�t remember when I�m� her, and I think that happened last
night.�

�But
you�re not sure?�

�No.. Usually, there are signs. Cramps, pain low in
my back and things. I always have time to hide before it happens, since�
you know.�

Naruto
knew. It was not illegal to be a mutant, but it
was certainly inconvenient, at the very least. People were afraid, and
therefore often violent. Mutant kids had problems at school; adults had
problems keeping their jobs. So who ever could,
tried to hide it.

Naruto
didn�t have that luxury. Konohamaru had probably
just lost it, even if he was completely innocent.

�Where
did you hear about this place?� Naruto asked, offering some time for
Konohamaru to collect himself.

�My
grandfather told me about it. I think he is one of your� benefactors.�

As
far as Naruto was concerned, all the benefactors were anonymous. Well,
except for Sasuke, but his way of helping included stuffing Naruto�s refrigerator
with vegetables twice a year, so Naruto ignored most of things he did. Vegetables, yuck.

Oh, and the Hyuugas, Neji and Hinata.

�Where
is your friend now?�

�Still home, in his room.� Konohamaru gave Naruto the
address. �His parents are not there, they�re out of the city for the
weekend.�

A
fresh wave of guiltiness came over the boy, and Naruto considered what he could
be hiding. There was another scent on him, male and fading, so it was probably
just the nature if his relationship with the victim..
At this point, that was none of Naruto�s business, so he didn�t
say anything.

He
needed to call Kakashi.

�Does
your family know where you are?�

�Yes,
I called them from a payphone.� Konohamaru answered. �But I just said
that I was in trouble, nothing else.�

�That�s
good.� Naruto told him, taking his jacket. �I also need to use the
payphone; you stay here and make yourself comfortable.�

�Are
you calling the police? I wanted to go there myself, but I didn�t want to
make trouble for others.� Konohamaru�s voice was mildly curious and anxious,
but not in the way that suggested he would run in fear, so Naruto told him the
truth:

�In a way.� After all, Kakashi will call Sasuke, and for
this, Sasuke was the police. �We have to make sure you really did this, and if
so, how to stop panic. Do you know what is the worst part of
it all?�

�Uh,
I killed my friend?� Konohamaru answered, frowning.

�For you and his family, sure. I meant for the rest of
us. Mutants?� Boy bit his lip and shook his
head, so Naruto told him. �The worst part of this is that you don�t remember.
People can deal with murderers, when they have a real motive and police catches
them, even though that�s very bad for us, too. But what they are terrified of is losing control. If
we lose control over our abilities, they are losing control over what happens
to us when we mess up.�

More
than anything, people were afraid that mutants would try to take over the
world, making them into slaves or targets for training their powers. It was mostly the imaginations of paranoid idiots that went wild,
but you can read all kinds of things in papers. And
things ten times worse were on the internet.

Sometimes,
Naruto felt that he was the only thing standing in the way of
a war between the mutants and the rest of the world. One wrong step,
one miscalculation, and the whole world would rise up for
a witch-hunt.

And, God knows, even though mutants would not be trying to
take over the world, they would fight back.

The
nearest payphone was close but Naruto never used that one. Kakashi said
it was bugged, just because Naruto�s �home� was there.
Kakashi�s information was always accurate, so Naruto walked by it and across
the street.

He
crossed the bridge over the river that was barely visible through the thick
morning fog. It was cold in the open. The wind was weak, with
a frosty edge. Naruto ran, both to hurry and to warm up. It
was only three streets away.

Once
in the phone booth, Naruto dialed the number Kakashi left last time he was about. The answering machine clicked, and familiar voice
said:

�Hallo!
This is the Smith family! We are not at home right now, so please leave
us a message so we can call you back!�

Biting
his tongue to stop the laugh at the thought of Kakashi Smith, Naruto
managed to say:

�Trouble.� Then he repeated the address he got from
the kid.

All
he had to do now was to wait and try to get more information.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

��
��Sasuke
Sasuke
knew all about irritation.

Irritation
ate at his balance and his health, through his dreams and nightmares, through
all the visions he couldn�t do anything about, all the
feelings that belonged to strangers he would never meet. It was a
constant in his life, the same way loneliness, white sheets, Sakura, Naruto,
his job, and his mission were.

And Kakashi, doing that again.  It
all circled nicely back to irritation.

Sasuke
knew so much about it that his words were easily understandable, even when he
was forcing them through a tightly clenched jaw.

�I
do have a door you could use.   Several doors, in
fact, strategically arranged all over the house. And you have a key for
every one of them.�
It�s a thing of experience, after all.

Kakashi
jumped from the windowsill inside.

�Oh,
I�m sorry. Did I wake you?�

Kakashi
was smiling brightly; his one visible eye was dancing with joy. Sasuke
suddenly felt very guilty he believed, once upon a time, that Itachi was alive
only to make his life miserable. That was obviously Kakashi, because Kakashi
was insane and he had weird and dangerous quirks.

Like
that scarf, that was covering half of his face. Someone young and foolish could
believe his story, that it was because of the nature of the �job� Kakashi was
doing, so nobody could recognize him. Sasuke knew Kakashi his all life and that
was not the truth, he was wearing that thing as long as Sasuke remembers. Also, having on something like that for cover would only
serve for him to be noticed sooner.

And there was that - thing over his left eye. It was
amazing that Kakashi could see enough to open a sealed window without breaking
it. Or to climb three floors up, for that matter, on
the outside wall on nothing but some plant that otherwise served only to
collect bugs and decorate exterior on the mansion.

Sasuke
often considered smearing the walls in lubricant or some other slippery liquid.
The only reason he didn�t was that Kakashi, as he is,
is the only family that he had left � not quite a father, not quite a brother
and not quite a friend.

That
excuse was getting thinner and thinner every time Kakashi would climb on
Sasuke�s bedroom window to wake him up early in the morning.

�Technically,
it was alarm. Alarm that went on when you jumped over my
garden wall.�

�You
sound mad.�

�I
am mad. You really have to start using the door.�

�I
would, if I had any hope at all that I could find my way from any of your doors
to your room..�

�You
could try to use doorbell and wait for me to come to you.�

�Where
is fun in that?�

Where
is the fun in that? Where would be all the fun in the world if Sasuke
gets up � one day only � on his own; no alarm clocks,
no phones and no Kakashi?

Sasuke
gave up. He knew Kakashi did it so he can see if there is anyone with him in
here, and that nothing he says would stop him. It never did before and they had
this pointless discussion many times already.

�Why
are you here anyway? It�s my day off.� Sasuke asked slipping out of the bed.
The room was cold, frosty air snuck after Kakashi before he managed to lock it
out.

�Not
anymore, kid. We have a thing.�

�A thing?� Sasuke echoed. What a stupid, inane way to say
it.

�Yes.
Go get some breakfast first, and then I�ll tell you all about it.�

�I�m
not hungry.� Sasuke said putting on the pants he neatly prepared the previous
night. Cloth was just as cold as the rest of the morning was.

�Play
nice, kid, and you�ll get to see Naruto today.�

Sasuke
almost froze in place. Not quite; his self-control was
good, even this early in the morning. He halted, though � his fingers paused
for just half of a second on the button - and that was probably enough for
Kakashi to feel gleeful or what ever he was feeling whenever he would do that.

Whenever
he would say Naruto�s name only to see how Sasuke would react.

Not
answering, Sasuke went to the bathroom, through dark walnut door on the right.
Kakashi looked like he was in some kind of hurry, but Sasuke can�t make himself
care, not at the moment, not when he was feeling drowsy and� well, irritated.
He took the towel from the cupboard and stepped into the shower.

Irritation again. Not that it ever had a chance to go away.

He
was getting too old to react like that whenever someone mentioned Naruto in his
presence. He should have gotten over that thing, it was short and it happened
years ago. So they had a � a fling, a one night thing. Not even that. Naruto
decided it�s not what he wants. They split up.
Everyone normal would forget about that by now.

Sasuke
couldn�t.

Of
course he couldn�t.

The
fact that they had to work together from time to time wasn�t
helping either.

Careful
not to let his hands linger beyond his waist, not now when Kakashi left him
thinking about Naruto, Sasuke finished showering and stepped out. He wrapped
the towel around him, and that was just in case Kakashi snaps completely and
barge in; he preferred drying off on his own. The mirror reflection, almost
sullen, glared back at him.

His
pupils were already completely red, and irises were a shade or two lighter that
they were supposed to be. Watching black dots dancing in his eyes, Sasuke couldn�t help wandering.

Is
it worth it?

It
must have been, because next thing on his mind was:

Did
Kakashi see it?

Probably
not; he would have said something.

What
time was it, anyway?

Sasuke
opened medical cabinet. It�s not the best possible
place to keep this kind of medication, but he rarely had visitors. It was his
personal bathroom, and he refused to hide from himself, even if had to hide
from the rest of the world.

From
strangers, and from people he cared about alike.

It
was Kakashi�s idea, both for Sasuke to join the police and not to tell anyone
he is a mutant. That was five years ago; Sakura went to medical school, Naruto
helped opening the shelter and Sasuke had nothing to do with his life.

Kakashi
said he could help, if he wants to.. He organized this
huge � thing, the shelter and helping mutants in trouble find help when
that heed it after a boy somewhere in France lost control over his power and
burned his mother alive. The town he lived in besieged and killed him.

It
was all over the papers and television for months, discussions and debates, but
no one did anything useful. Some believed kid got exactly what he deserved,
some that it was unfortunate mistake of an ill person, and politicians all
around the world were using the event one way or another, but no one did
anything helpful.

So Kakashi did some thing, contacted some people and opened
the shelter.

In
the public eye, Naruto was running it. Naruto alone, witch was not the
truth. Sakura and Sasuke, and most of all, Kakashi were doing everything they
could to help.

Everyone
knew about it, who ever had any business with mutants. You could find fliers
all around the city with address and phone number, how to contact Naruto Uzumaki
if you are a mutant and you have a problem, you are in some trouble, or you
just need a place to stay.

Sasuke
swallowed one pill and watched redness withdrawal from his eyes.

Naruto
was also the one who was called when police had a case
they believed involved a mutant, or when a mutant is arrested.

And when ever that happens, Sasuke ends up working with
Naruto, simply because no one else from the station would. Or
at least they didn�t want to do it in the beginning; later when Naruto
actually spent some time around the precinct, most of them changed their minds.
By then, Sasuke was already unofficial specialist for mutant cases, so it was
too late. Sasuke suspected Kakashi had something to do with that.

No
one knew he was one of them, though. Some maybe
had their suspicions � Shikamaru, his partner, definitely � but no one knew.
Because there was no law against firing a mutant from his
job, not really.

And people were always afraid of things they don�t
understand.

Kakashi
was waiting in the kitchen for him, plate full of fried eggs in his hands.
Technically, they looked good but Sasuke felt ill from the smell alone. He
could almost feel greasiness on his plate; his stomach felt like someone put a
big hook through it.

Sasuke
ignored the plate when Kakashi pushed it towards him across the table, and
picked up a banana. He didn�t want that either, but if
doesn�t eat anything, Kakashi will nag.

�Are
you sick?� Kakashi asked. Sasuke couldn�t help
noticing that he waited for him to finish his breakfast, just so he can�t use
interruption to stop eating. He decided to act dumb.

�No.
Why?�

�You
look like you haven�t had anything to eat for weeks.�

Hardly a surprise. Pharmacist that made them warned him
there would be some consequences, but there was nothing he
could do about that. Besides, he just couldn�t
eat in the morning, he was fine after noon, or so. As far as he was concerned,
the only bad thing was that he couldn�t get his coffee
in the first thing.

�I
eat regularly.�

�I
don�t believe you.�

�That�s
your problem.� Sasuke said calmly. Kakashi would ask his housekeeper and cook
Tsunami anyway, and she�ll conform it. Luckily, he didn�t
have to lie. Not about this part. �Now will you tell
me what is this all about?�

�A murder.� Kakashi said, obviously setting the eating issue
on a side. So he will
investigate. �Naruto called and gave me an address. I went to check it out.�

�And?� Sasuke prompted, feeling banana trying to climb up
back into his mouth.

�Everything
was locked, so I looked through windows. There is a bloody corpse on the second
floor. Young male, I believe.�

So, most likely, some mutant committed a murder and run off
to Naruto so people wouldn't burn him alive. Smart decision, it
would make his own life so much easier if everyone would just do
that.

�So,
you want me to go and look around?� Sasuke stated more then asked, thinking Damn you, Neji!

It
was useful, the fact that he developed Neji�s gift through the years to pick up
things to help him with the cases, but now was not a good time.. Not at all.

He�d just have to go where ever Kakashi sent him, and snoop
around. He would have to collect evidence in the old fashioned, cop way, and
then maybe pretend he had gotten the information
otherwise. There was no way he would get a clear vision with
this much medicine in his blood.

�I�ll
call Naruto to meet you there.�

Sasuke
kept quiet. Naruto was useful on crime scenes, especially his
nose. Sasuke also wanted to see him. It would just� it would
be better if they didn�t have to be alone for
it. Kakashi seemed to know it, and despite teasing from earlier, he
added, almost apologizing:

�He
knows more then I do about what happened.�

There
was also the fact that Naruto would know something was off. He
would read it in Sasuke�s face, and there was
nothing Sasuke could do about it. The mere presence of Naruto
in a room made lying impossible � both ways. You couldn't
lie to him, and he couldn�t lie well even if his life depended on it.

�And Sakura?�

�She�s
working. I don�t think we can afford to wait for her shift to end.�

�Fine.� Sasuke said. Like he
had a choice. He just liked to pretend he did. �Right away?�

Down
the hall, the phone rang. Sasuke yawned.

Kakashi
looked at him.

�Aren�t
you going to get that?�

�We
just established I�m not home.�

�And
if they are calling about this case from the station? If
someone discovered the body?�

Kakashi
was looking at him suspiciously. Sasuke knew he was a bit off, but
it wasn't that big of a deal, was it?

�I
always need some time to wake up.� He offered, standing up, but it
sounded like an excuse to his own ears. Kakashi actually smiled.

�Tickling
always did the trick.�

Sasuke
went to the living room to answer the phone. It was the embarrassing truth.
When Sasuke was little, Kakashi would always wake him up that
way when he came to visit. He would always have a present with
him, maybe a lot of candies.

Sasuke
never liked candies, but that was okay. He could eat them, if that made
his godfather happy.

�Yes?�
He said into the headphone, wondering where his cell phone was.

�Sasuke?� It was Shikamaru, his voice unhurried and muted as
always. �Are you awake?�

Sasuke
felt the urge to say No, you finally lost it. But
that was just stupid.

�I
am.� He said instead.

�There
is some trouble.� Shikamaru told him. Sasuke waited patently, so he
didn't say something he wasn't supposed to. Was
it the same case? But what Shikamaru said next
surprised him: �At the hospital your friend, Ino, works. Hostage situation.�

�Mutant?� Sasuke asked. Unlikely, but there must
have been a reason they were called.

�It
seems like it. Meet me there?�

�Fine..�

He
set the phone aside to find Kakashi on the doorstep.

�I
have to go to the hospital first, that murder will have to wait. Sakura
is in danger.�

She
was probably in danger, but that was more than enough to make him go
over there right now, even if it wasn�t his job.

�Take
your cell phone with you, we�ll talk soon.�

Sasuke
didn�t bother answering. He always had a phone with
him, except of course when he would leave it behind on purpose.

When
he found it � not that it took long, it was next to his bed � Kakashi was
already gone. Sasuke hoped he had used the door.

Sasuke grabbed
his jacket and hurried out.
TBC
( BetaNote
It's not her fault that this is late. Please direct
any complaints or whatever to me. SilverTsuki on LJ.
Hey, though, at least we're back. ^-^ )
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Scared Stiff