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The Banks Of The River Styx	By : AkashaEmily Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 915 -:- 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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Chapter eight: Damned �

Awareness
returned slowly and reluctantly to Sasuke. He was laying on his right side,
surrounded by soft sheets that smelled faintly of disinfectant and detergent,
tucked safely back into a bed that he knew was not his. The Uchiha could feel
patches of stiffness on his chest and the muted beeping from behind him told
him that he had, once gain, been connected to a heart monitor. His left arm,
the only part of him exposed to the air as it lay over the top of the
comforter, was numb except for a little area of pain where a vein had been
punctured by an IV port.
He�d
been having a dream, a very confusing one where he had arrived in time to save
Naruto. He had managed to stop Itachi, had finally gotten his hands on the
bastard despite the bindings his brother had used to try and slow him down. But
before he could rip him limb from limb, Naruto was shouting, was protecting
Itachi, telling Sasuke to stop and he had hesitated, confused, unable to
continue until the blonde moved since the Uchiha wasn�t willing to hurt him,
and then the world had run as Naruto�s fist came crashing down to connect with
Sasuke�s jaw. He�d wanted to ask his love why- Why!?- but he�d been caught by Itachi�s bindings, overpowered,
unable to speak as his body gave out even as he remembered a crucial piece of
information.�
Sasuke
wanted to cry, the tightness and gut-wrenching pain in his chest not helping to
suppress the urge.
�Don�t
cry, teme.� An arm wrapped around him in an awkward half hug, pressing his head
forward and down to rest against a solid broad chest. Fingers threaded through
the hair at the nape of Sasuke�s neck as a weight settled hesitantly against
the top the brunette�s head. Breath ghosted over the shell of his ear as the
other sighed softly, stirring raven locks to tickle pale skin.
The
hand in Sasuke�s hair moved to rub small circles over his upper back when his
shoulders began to shake, his body wracked by ragged sobs as grief surged
through him. The emotion was somehow infinitely worse after his moment of hope
that everything was false- that there was a possibility that everything was
actually okay and all he had to do was just break the damn illusion and rescue
Naruto.
But
everything was real and that meant that Naruto�s death was also real.
Unable
to just hold it internally any longer, he sobbed out this new pain. His lungs
burned with every heave, his heart ached with every ragged inhale, his stomach
cramping painfully during the process from every movement, and throughout the
process his mind was just a chaotic jumble of images as the box he�d so
carefully packed with everything Naruto was not just opened but violently
kicked over so that its contents spilled out. He cried and howled his pain loudly
so that� everyone who heard the
heart-wrenching sound knew that something, that someone, good and wonderful
was gone forever and that they should all drop to their knees and wail just
like the Uchiha because� because� Naruto
was dead and it was Sasuke�s fault and there was no way to change any of it!
When
he was finally quiet, with his right hand firmly fisted in the hideous orange
jacket his forehead rested against, Sasuke cracked bloodshot eyes opened and
simply stared vacantly. He couldn�t take anymore! It was just too much pain to
bear any longer and he willed his heart to stop simply explode because it was
just a mass of agony as it continued to beat steadily.
Impossibly,
he felt his eyes tear again at this thought and the desire to rest, to just end
everything settled in his chest like some overwhelming need.
He
wanted to die.
Sasuke
wanted to be with Naruto.
�I�m
here.� The desperate voice was a choked whisper in his ear and the hand on
Sasuke�s back stopped rubbing circles and just pressed against him, a warm
weight that forced the Uchiha flush against the body he already touched. �I�m
here. I�m here so you aren�t alone! I�m
right here, Sasuke!�
Gentle
pressure forced his chin up and suddenly Sasuke�s vision was dominated by
worried blue eyes, the sight enough to make his own dark eyes well with
moisture again.
�I�m
so tired.� He found himself whispering, tears flowing down over his already wet
cheeks, voice pleading, beseeching, clearly imparting the unasked request. Blue
eyes widened and closed briefly, as if their owner was trying to gather strength
before continuing.
�I
know.� It was said in soft tones, full of compassion and understanding but
there was also a note of stubbornness in the mix that answered Sasuke�s silent
question. �I know you�re tired, Sasuke. I know you want to sleep until the hurt
goes away but you can�t. You can�t sleep- the hurt wouldn�t go away even if you
did.�
�I
want to sleep.� More tears fell and Sasuke�s hand fisted tighter into Naruto�s
shirt, tugging slightly to emphasize the point that mere sleep was not what he
was asking permission for, hoping that the blonde had just misunderstood the
question by taking it literally. �Please let me sleep. Please let me go.� Let me out of my promise. Please just let me
die. �Please?�
And
now it was the other who was crying, closing blue eyes and looking away as
tears fell, lower lip trembling even as it was pinned in place by white teeth.
Sasuke waited patiently, feeling the hand on his back move away as the arm
snaked possessively around his waist. He kept his gaze glued to the tan face
because he could see the emotional war playing out across it, could feel it in
the tension-filled muscles against his skin. It was cruel of him to ask, even
crueler to force Naruto into such a position, but Sasuke wanted the blonde�s
permission even if, when all was said and done, the figure suddenly clutching
him like a life line was nothing more than a reflection of Sasuke�s own psyche;
a mental manifestation of the last barrier between remaining alive or
committing suicide.
Sasuke
blinked and laid his head against the solid chest, nuzzling slowly as he felt
his lower lip tremble. No heart beat beneath his cheek, the chest did not move
to breathe, though as soon as he noticed these details they were rectified;
suddenly he could hear the meaty thud of a heart pumping, could feel the
pressure as the rib cage began to expand and contract rhythmically. Unable to
suppress the hitching in his chest, the Uchiha bit his lower lip as he released
his death grip on the figure�s shirt and pulled away altogether.
This
was a Naruto, a very lifelike wonderful reproduction, but for all the details
it was not his Naruto and the
realization saddened him despite the knowledge that the blonde he was searching
for was already gone. He knew, he knew, but
he just couldn�t make himself believe the fact and every time he told himself
that the blonde was gone, it took him by surprise, ripping the wound open all
over again. Sasuke was talking to a fantasy, had been talking to one all this
time. Sasuke shook his head slowly at his own foolishness and made a choked
noise, something between a laugh and a sob, as he looked up into the troubled
blue eyes studying him.
He
was so incredibly stupid�
��You�re not real.� He said sadly, forlornly,
unable to hide his anguish. �I want you to be but you�re not. I don�t need your
permission because you can�t grant me forgiveness. There is no promise holding
me here, nothing to stop me from launching myself out of a window except my own
cowardice. I�m not�� Brave enough to
continue on without you. �I�m not fit�� Itachi
had been right all along. ��Anymore�� Because
you aren�t here any longer. �So I�ll�� Just
go away and finish what I was going to do at the hospital. �I just�� Love you so damn much that I am losing my
fucking mind. You were my everything
and there�s just nothing left to live for without you here.
He
faltered and looked away, not knowing or understanding the point he was trying
to make as his thoughts scattered in every direction. Disoriented, he looked
back up at the blonde, at the image of the only thing that had ever made him
feel grounded, at the likeness of the only person he had ever wanted to
protect.
The
person he had failed.
Sasuke
smiled and pulled the blonde head down to meet his in a chaste kiss. �I love
you. I love you. I love you.� He whispered it over and over against chapped
lips, his confidence and boldness fleeing as more tears fell, making him cling
desperately to the blonde instead. If this was the last time he would see him,
even symbolically, Sasuke decided that he should come clean completely. He
swallowed the lump in his throat with difficulty and continued on.
��I wanted to tell you for so long but I was
afraid. I didn�t want you to hate me- I don�t think I could have lived through
the rejection- so I never said anything. I wanted you to love me, to be mine,
but my ego kept getting in the way� And then it was too late.�
It
was too late for so many things, including his confession.
Sasuke
pulled away, unable to stop the blush he felt rush into his probably already
red cheeks even as bitterness and self-loathing swept through him so strongly
that his body shook. What good was this now? What good was confessing when the
one who was supposed to hear it wasn�t around? What good was it to talk to a
fucking doll? And, damn it, why
couldn�t he stop crying?! There wasn�t anything more left in him; he was just a
shell- an empty, eviscerated shell.
�Damn
it, teme! I�m here, Sasuke, I�m really here!� He found himself abruptly being
crushed, smothered in a suffocating hug as the fake Naruto�s arms and legs wrapped around his torso,
rolling him onto his back in the process. Sasuke stared at the ceiling and
didn�t respond to the doll even when the added weight of the body above him
forced a soft grunt from his pale frame. Unwilling to be comforted anymore, the
Uchiha sniffled and forced his mind to blank out, forcing all desires away
except one.
Sasuke
concentrated and put everything he had into making the blonde squeezing the
life out of him disappear. He imagined that there was no weight, telling
himself that it was just the heavy bedclothes. The blonde spikes of hair were
just rays of sunlight coming through the curtains just as the orange hue
disrupting the bottom of his vision was evidence that it was early morning. He
closed his eyes and concentrated on the darkness he found behind his lids,
deepening his breathing into a meditative rhythm. There was no one with him; it
was just Sasuke, the bed, and the softly beeping machines.

When
he opened his eyes again, the room was empty and it truly was just him tucked
into a foreign bed, in a foreign room, staring up at a foreign ceiling that he
could barely see, once again hooked up to various machines.
For
a long time he just stared and concentrated on being numb, unwilling to deal
with his emotions right now. He stared and thought, trying to make sense of his
surroundings while smothering the occasional bouts of coughing that were caused
from simply breathing, absently using his tongue to gingerly prod at his teeth
as his jaw began to ache.
It
wasn�t a genjutsu: Naruto was dead- the Uchiha ruthlessly stamped down the
immediate anguish that reared up at that- and Sasuke had somehow wound up in a
household where there was an almost exact double of people he had grown up with
wandering around, including one of his favorite blonde idiot.
His
punishment for failure had begun.
Sasuke
was in Hell.
The
Uchiha blinked slowly in the dimness, watching for several moments the play of
light dancing over the ceiling as the sun sank somewhere behind his curtains.
His left hand was twitching again and he turned his attention to it, watching
it dispassionately claw at the air as if searching for something. He willed it
to stop, made the fingers to straighten out and still before finally forcing himself
up into a sitting position, wearily untangling his body from the bed coverings.
He turned off the heart monitor and disconnected himself from the machine�s
leads, pulling out the IV line and pulling off the oxygen mask. Fighting back
the resulting wave of dizziness and nausea, Sasuke swung his legs over the side
of the bed and stood. He immediately hit the floor as his legs gave out but,
two tries later, managed to remain upright long enough to hobble into the
bathroom. After taking stock of the room�s contents, he stripped out of his
pajama bottoms and took a shower.
He
just stood under the flow of water for a long time, unmoving even when his
bandages became saturated. The spray was warm, almost hot, but the heat didn�t
seem to penetrate his skin; he still felt cold inside and part of him pointed
out that he should get used to the feeling since it was going to be there for a
long time. He used his bare hands to wash himself since a clean washcloth could
not be found, patiently picking up the bar of soap every time he dropped it
until the protests of his body forced him to simply kneel on the bathtub floor
and stay there. He pulled the bandages covering him off completely,
mechanically checking the wounds, mildly surprised when he found everything mostly
healed.
Kyuubi,
it seemed, was still with him even though the demon remained unresponsive to
Sasuke�s mental inquiries.
It
was as Sasuke was reading the labels - well, staring at really, since he
couldn�t make sense of the squiggly writing on them- of the various bottles in
the shower stall with him that he became aware that he was no longer alone. Though
the presences were not enough to be threatened by, his body still reacted
instinctually, tensing up to attack or defend, his right hand going automatically
to his hip to retrieve a kunai from a weapons pouch that was no longer there.
He dropped the bottles in the process, the resulting thumps as they hit the
porcelain loud and sharp in Sasuke�s ears, the sounds helping to re-orient him
to the here and now.
Blinking
mildly to rid himself of the water dripping into his eyes, he looked over his
shoulder at the door and waited as his visitor ran through the doorway.
�Sasu�!�
It was the blonde child from earlier, Alex, one of the boy�s small hands
clutching the doorway as he panted for breath just inside the bathroom. Looking
at the scene before him he blinked, cheeks turning faintly red as he realized
that Sasuke was in the middle of bathing. �Oh, sorry��
��Hurry up!� Brain�s voice was a hissed whisper
from the depths of Sasuke�s bedroom and the Uchiha couldn�t prevent his eyebrows
from rising as he looked at Alex expectantly.
What
on earth were these kids doing in his room?
Spurred
into action by his brother�s urgency, the blonde stopped staring and launched
himself at the tub. Reaching in, Alex grabbed one of the bottles beside
Sasuke�s foot and poured a small measure of the contents out onto his waiting
hand, quickly snapping the bottle shut afterwards and setting it aside. From
the viscosity of the liquid, the brunette determined it was shampoo but he
didn�t have time to note which bottle it had come from since Alex took that
moment to bury his lather coated hands deep in Sasuke�s hair.
�You
gotta hold still!� The blonde complained as he scrubbed the raven locks
vigorously. The fact that his fingers were tangled
painfully in the wet mass didn�t seem to register with the little boy; standing
on tip toe, leaning precariously over the edge of the tub for leverage, the
blonde�s only concern seemed to be winning the battle he was waging on the
teenager�s hair. Fearing that he would soon go bald, Sasuke tried to
pull away again by gently tugging at the small wrists to remove them. In
response, Alex simply increased how much force he was using to wash the brunette�s
hair, small hands scouring the locks in a manner similar to how one would clean
a particularly stubborn stain on a dirty pot. After an agonizing eternity of more
vigorous scrubbing, the blonde relinquished his hold to allow the elder male to
rinse the soap and suds away. �Okay, once all of it�s gone, we�re going down
stairs. Okay? Okay, Sasu?�
Sasuke,
head under the spray, simply nodded to show he had heard, turning his head this
way and that until the water flowing from his hair ran clear. Slightly relieved
that the ordeal was over, the Uchiha pushed the heavy black strands out of his
eyes, momentarily startled by how long his hair currently was. His lips
twitched down briefly before resuming a straight line. �
Alex
caught Sasuke�s wrist and began pulling on it painfully as he whispered
urgently to the teenager. �You�re clean and we gotta go right now! It�s, it�s
an emergency and we need your help, so�!�
The
boy was practically dragging Sasuke out of the tub with all the tugging and the
brunette finally had to jerk his arm free so he could stand without the fear of
falling over. With a small sound of protest that did not go unnoticed by the
child nearby, the Uchiha forced his body upright again and turned the shower
knobs until the water shut off. Keeping one hand on the wall and his other hand
outstretched in the air to break his fall should he stumble, Sasuke carefully
stepped out of the tub and onto the bathmat, looking around for a towel.
�H-here.�
Alex stuttered, standing on tip toe to offer the fluffy expanse of cotton up to
the brunette�s free hand. The child was staring at Sasuke, eyes wide. It was
disconcerting, making the Uchiha glance down at his nude form to see what the
problem was as he took the towel and began drying off. Figuring that the child�s
attention was on the very noticeable scars now adorning his body, Sasuke
decided to ignore it and just wrapped the cloth around his waist, managing to
secure it with a knot at his hip just before Alex once again took his hand and
began pulling.� ��
�We
brought you some clothes!� Brian�s hurried voice was muffled by the pile of
haphazardly folded clothing he shoved at Sasuke the moment the pair stepped
onto the carpet of the bedroom. �Put them on as fast as you can- we have to
hurry! There isn�t much time.�
Their
stressed urgency was infectious and Sasuke found himself hastily dropping the
towel to pull the items on. He struggled with the pants and boxers despite
their looseness, unable to balance properly on one leg while getting the other
through the opening in the soft cloth. He got his head caught in the neck of
the over large T-shirt presented to him, having to fight both the oddley snug
opening and his long hair before he could pull it on. He felt like a child by
the time he was done and looked the part, eying the flowing material of his new
pants and sleep-shirt that hit him at midthigh with mild irritation.�
Immediately
his hands were taken and Sasuke couldn�t help but notice how much bigger his
were than the pairs that held them. Their fingers were so small but their grip was
strong and he found it oddly reassuring as he was led quickly into the hallway.

The
moment he limped off the last step leading to the first floor of the house,
Sasuke knew they were being watched but it was the silent air of vacancy that made
the hair at the back of Sasuke�s neck stand up. It triggered ingrained
instincts that had been honed to extreme levels while under Orochimaru�s
tutelage, making the Uchiha pause in the foyer and pull the boys to a stop.
�What�s
wrong?� Brian asked, the boy looking around for any sign of a problem.
�We
have to go!� Alex whined, pulling hard on the teenagers hand to get him to
move. Sasuke remained firm, though, and frowned as he scanned the area, trying
to find the source of his anxiety.
The
kitchen was nearest and, after pulling his hands free to use the wall as a
support, the Uchiha moved forward until he could stick his head cautiously
through the doorway to take a quick glance inside the room. Finding it empty,
he returned to the children who immediately grabbed his hands and, again, began
dragging him down the hall into a section of the house he had yet to visit.
Maybe
Sasuke was just paranoid.
�You�re
such a slow poke!� Alex grumbled by the time they reached their destination.
The usually short trip had taken nearly three times as long since Sasuke kept
making them stop by every door so he could either look inside or touch the door
itself. The limping Uchiha was led to rest on an ottoman near the door and
promptly abandoned as the pair began to rearrange the furniture in the room.
They
seemed to be in a glass enclosed patio area with two plush couches on either
side of the room and a large TV and stereo setup on the other end. The glass
panes making up the wall to his left had been polished until they shone,
letting the last rays of sunshine in to pool over the floor in a large orange
hued puddle. He could see snow on the ground outside, untouched and smooth, the
dusting making the world so blindingly white it dazzled the Uchiha�s sensitive
eyes despite the sinking sun�s fading illumination. Blinking away the spots
that had appeared in his vision, Sasuke turned his attention back to the
children and frowned.
�What
are you doing?� He asked them in between bouts of coughing. He covered his
mouth until the fit seizing him passed, slumping afterwards, rubbing his chest
reflexively.
The
kids were pushing the couches toward the center of the room, maneuvering the
pieces around until they were separated by several feet and facing in opposite
directions. The couches weren�t small and had to weigh almost as much as Sasuke
but the twins were pushing them around with surprising ease. Once finished with
moving the furniture, the boys began pulling the cushions off and tossing them into
the space between the two settees to form a rather large pile. When that chore
was accomplished, Brian retrieved a blanket from a closet in the far corner of
the room and threw the fabric over the two stripped sofas, effectively forming
a roof.
�It�s
a fort!� Brian proclaimed proudly, crawling inside to arrange the pillows over
the plush carpet until they all lay in flat. Once that was accomplished, he
backed out to look over the construction critically.
While
the little brunette continued to make small adjustments with the fort, Alex
wandered over to Sasuke�s ottoman and studied the Uchiha. Though the room was
mostly dark now, the teenager felt the achingly familiar blue eyed stare
acutely as it swept over him and, again, the idea of leaving this family came
to him. He did not belong here, he did not deserve their kindness, so he had no
right to remain in their company. He was sober now- his mind no longer clouded
by drugs or by endorphins- so it was time he left before his presence brought
misfortune to them like it had to Naruto.
�Don�t
be sad.� Alex�s voice was soft in his ear but it nearly made the teenager jump
out of his skin. It was then that he felt the small arms trying to envelope his
shoulders as best they could and the little hands clasped tightly across his chest.
Sasuke realized that the boy had climbed onto the ottoman to hug him from
behind.
Uncomfortable
with the human contact no matter how good it felt, he pried the boy�s hands
apart and stood upright to maintain some distance between them. He could not
get attached to this child, to this family. They had cared for him, true, and for
that he owed them- he wasn�t that cold blooded after all. The kids had said
there was an emergency and he was willing to help though how much use he would
be in his weakened state he wasn�t sure. He would stay and offer aid then once
the calamity had been averted or otherwise dealt with, Sasuke would simply
leave.
Which
brought about the question of what, exactly, was the emergency he had been
dragged down here to help with?
�What
did you need my help with?� Sasuke asked, muffling the urge to cough, keeping
most of his attention on remaining upright. His left leg was holding weight but
his knee felt weak and kept wobbling slightly. He rolled his shoulders, feeling
joints pop as he continued the trend of loosening his body in preparation of
combat. Sasuke wasn�t stupid enough to think he�d be able to inflict much
damage, especially given how little muscle tone he had, but he could probably
get in a good hit or two before becoming dead weight. He scanned the room,
noting the thickness of the door they had entered through before turning his
head to scrutinize the glass walls, sharp gaze locking onto the door located
among the panes. If need be, he could evacuate the kids through there onto the
narrow deck outside and skirt the building until he found a safe place for the
twins to hide.
�Well,�
Brian began, coming over to clutch Sasuke�s hand. �We had to hide you.�
The
Uchiha blinked down at the boy and frowned. He coughed, the sound loud in the
silence of the room. �Why?�
�Because
we don�t want you to be sent back to the hospital!� Alex said, jumping down
from his perch with a small thud to stand beside Sasuke. The boy took his free hand
and hung on. �Everyone�s been yelling at Dad to take you back but Alex and I
like having you here so we lied and brought you here so you could hide! If they
can�t find you, they can�t take you away.�
So
it seemed that this family had grown tired of his presence. Sasuke didn�t blame
them, not one bit, and he squelched the little childlike voice in his heart
that tried to sob out his absurd non-existent feelings of rejection. He was a
loner, an avenger�.
He
blinked, suddenly feeling cut adrift. He wasn�t either of those things any
longer. He had killed Itachi. Naruto was dead and the Kyuubi now resided within
Sasuke�s body. For better or worse, his vengeance had been sated, his time
spent in solitude at an end.
He
felt his expression crumble abruptly as a sob slipped out.
He
had waited for this moment for so long, had dreamed about it, had ached for it,
but if he had managed to live through the battle with his brother, he had
fantasized about sharing the moment with his blonde. He�d wanted to celebrate
with Naruto.
Not
with two children who looked like miniature replicas of himself and his lost
love, kids that seemed to give a glimpse of something that would never be.
One
sob became two as no tears became seemingly hundreds then thousands as he began
to cry full out. He sat down hard, his felt leg unable to hold him any longer,
narrowly avoiding landing on the boys who clutched his hands like lifelines as
he curled up in a ball. He rested his forehead on his bent right knee, trying
to be as quiet as possible as he sobbed brokenly and began coughing again.

�You
need to eat something,� Brian coaxed gently. The boy was nose to nose with
Sasuke and as he spoke, the Uchiha could feel warm breath ghost over his lips. The
teenager continued to stare emptily in the boy�s direction. �Please Sasu? Just
some milk maybe? It�s good��
Brian�s
image was replaced with a red cup topped by a green lid with an abnormally long
spout on top of it. The boy wiggled the item enticingly, the sound of liquid-
presumably milk- sloshing within the container reaching the elder�s ears.
Sasuke
just closed his eyes tiredly, pulling his knees up further as he tugged the
blanket they had wrapped around him higher over his shoulder.
They
were all inside the fort and he was laying on his left side, curled up, arms
firmly hugging his legs to his chest beneath his blanket. The shivering that
had started after his breakdown was getting worse, making his body jerk almost
painfully as he tried to remain still so as not to inadvertently strike one of
the kids. Sasuke felt cold but he knew it wasn�t the kind of cold that any
amount of blankets or the warm body against his back could cure. He�d tried to
explain that to Alex but the boy had ignored him, immediately pressing his
small body against Sasuke�s once they had managed to guide him inside. The
blonde shifted and, shortly there after a small hand reached out to cup the
Uchiha�s forehead.
�He�s
hot.� Alex whispered, the comment thankfully not addressed to Sasuke. Another
hand was placed on the shivering head before being hastily pulled away.
�Sasu,
you gotta drink this.� Brian�s voice was anxious but authoritative. It was the
only warning Sasuke got before the long spout of the cup was placed against his
lips and forced between them past his teeth and nearly to the back of his mouth
as Alex pulled his head back, holding it in place. Before he could remove it,
the cup�s contents were being dumped down his throat and he had no choice but
to swallow or choke.
Pushing
the cup away roughly, he sat up sputtering and coughing, hands grasping his
throat as he tried to get air and failed. By the time he did get to breathe he
wasn�t sure if his eyes were simply watering or if he had broken down again. Drawing
a long, much needed breath Sasuke covered his mouth with his hands and doubled
over, coughing hard as his forehead pushed against the cushioned floor of their
enclosure.
�Sasu,
are you okay?� Alex was already trying to help him sit upright again while
rubbing the teenager�s back.
�We�re
gonna have to get Dad.� Brian muttered, also helping to rub Sasuke�s back as
the fit passed. The two boys helped ease him down to the lay on the cushions
again and Alex spread the blanket over him again, tucking it around him while
simultaneously shooting a glare at Brian. The brunette grimaced but forged on. �I
don�t like it either but he�s sick, really sick! We shouldn�t have moved him!
Dad said��
�Mom said to make Dad keep him here!�
Alex was near tears, his voice rising as he became more agitated. Above the
sound of his own calming breathing, Sasuke could detect a distinctive wheezing
sound coming from the boy. Brian could as well, apparently; he leaned forward
and took his brother�s hand, his fingers wrapping around the other�s wrist. �Mom
said he was coming, she said he might be hurt, but she said to keep him at the
house because otherwise� Otherwise��
Otherwise?
We
need to meet this woman. Kyuubi�s
voice was bored and distracted, as if the demon was just commenting for the
sake of doing something other than whatever task it was currently overseeing
because it was simply that tedious. Considering that he was still in pain with
most of his body not working as it should, Sasuke had no idea what the hell the
fox had been doing all this time. The demon was a parasite and had a natural
stake in making sure it kept its host physically fit- what had been so
important that Kyuubi had had to seclude itself?
I need to talk to you later. Sasuke warned the beast, temporarily stomping down his
anger at its absence so that he could tend to the blonde beside him.
Alex
was panting, his chest heaving and the wheezing growing more and more
pronounced. He put a hand to his chest and even in the indirect moonlight
Sasuke could see his face twist up into an expression of panic.
Brian
became just as panicked and began hunting around among the items strewn about
the floor of their fort. It was much the same behavior he had displaced at the
hospital however long ago that was. Whatever this inhaler thing was, Brian
wasn�t going to find it in time to be of use since the other was turning blue.
Sasuke
reached out to Alex and dragged the boy down beside him, already channeling
chakra into his hand as he pressed his palm against the blonde�s back. The
Uchiha rolled onto his back, forcing the boy to sprawl over his chest so Alex
could rest comfortably. Sasuke began to pump healing chakra into the boy�s
lungs, helping the constrictions in the organs relax and allow the boy to
breathe.
The
wheezing slowly faded into normal breathing that gradually deepened as Alex�s
chest relaxed and the blonde became sleepy. The boy yawned, turning his head to
press his mouth against Sasuke�s chest as he did so, before mumbling something
incoherent as his fists hooked into the teenager�s barrowed shirt. Alex relaxed
as sleep took him and Sasuke felt his own eye lids flutter now that danger had
been averted.
�How
did you do that?� Brian asked, soft voice floating out of the darkness above
the two. �You stopped the attack but all you did was touch him��
Feeling
drained and suddenly unable to stay awake any longer, he made a vague beckoning
motion to invite the child to lay down along side him. The Uchiha kept a hand
out, waiting until Brian had cuddled up and gotten comfortable before clumsily
tugging the blanket up to cover them all.
�You�re
not shivering any more.� Brian noted quietly. The boy reached up and laid his
hand against Sasuke�s forehead. �You�re warm but not hot. Do you feel any
better?�
The
teenager made a noncommittal noise, head lolling to one side as his eyes
closed. He still felt empty and miserable, still felt Naruto�s loss like an
open wound. His little hysterical episode had eased some of that pain but he
could still feel it there, waiting. It was like taking a bucketful of water out
of the ocean; sure you had bled off some of the water but there was plenty,
plenty more and only so many buckets that one could fill.
Feeling
better wasn�t going to happen anytime soon, in Sasuke�s opinion.
Fingers
began running through his hair, gentle touches that eased through the tangles
they encountered. The gesture was meant to be soothing, and made his scalp
tingle pleasantly as Brian continued, the boy apparently set on combing out all
of the Uchiha�s hair despite how sweat matted it must be. However, instead of
relaxing, Sasuke felt himself tensing up. The gesture was too reminiscent of
the dream he had woken up from earlier, too painful a reminder of Naruto. Just
as he began turning back to tell Brian to stop, though, sleep yanked him under.

�Teme,
you�re being a jerk.� It was Naruto�s voice and automatically tensed up,
waiting for the familiar hurt and grief to wash over and drown him. �Hey,
settle down! You need to loosen up and relax, so do it, teme.�
He
felt his shoulder slapped lightly, playfully, and Sasuke tried to open his eyes
to look up from where his head lay in the blonde�s lap as hands descended into
his hair to ruffle it. But his eyes remained stubbornly shut no matter how hard
he tried to open them, as if glued or bound shut. Sasuke reached up, letting
his fingers hunt for whatever was keeping his eyes closed.
Why
wasn�t he hurting? Where was all that grief and pain from before? Why wasn�t he
being reduced to a crying mess by his guilt?! He felt good, comfortable-
completely opposite of what he should be feeling.
Warm
hands took his searching one between them, callused fingers running over his
palm and tracing the lines. �Relax, Sasuke, relax. Get some sleep.�
�I
am asleep. All I do is sleep.� He complained, voice thick and rusty. �I spend
most of my time unconscious but I don�t get feel any better when I�m awake.�
�Uh,
yeah,� One hand left Sasuke�s and he could imagine the blonde reaching up to
scratch the back of his tan neck. �I know. Kyuubi says it�s partially excess
chatter, that the two sides of your brain aren�t handling the trauma of getting
here very well. That combined with three of us being crammed inside you�I guess
it�s no wonder that your body is feeling stressed out.�
�Getting
here?� Sasuke asked lazily. Naruto kissed the palm of the hand he held and
squeezed it before placing it on the brunette�s chest. Hands buried into
Sasuke�s hair, again, blunt nails teasing against his scalp gently. �Mm.�
� �Like that, huh?� The blonde teased, laughing
a bit when Sasuke repeated the noise. �Yeah, well, Kyuu says inter dimensional
travel for a human is like being stuffed through a meat grinder�Or was it a
paper shredder? Maybe a deli slicer? No, that doesn�t make any sense� I dunno-
anyway, the only reason you lived through it was because you had Kyuubi in you,
though, now that�s not exactly a good thing since this place is really strange.
Kyuu says chakra may not exist here as we know it. Can you imagine!? No chakra?
How the hell are you supposed to be a ninja if this place doesn�t use chakra?�
Naruto was yelling, waving his arms around to express his indignation over it
all and Sasuke could feel every motion since the blonde was putting his whole
body into the gestures.
��Well,� The blonde continued on, tone becoming
optimistic and cheerful. �At least it seems that you can still use chakra so I
guess that it�s not so bad. You won�t have to worry about enemy ninja!�
Warm
and full of life, that was who Naruto was.
��You�re beautiful,� Sasuke said suddenly,
voice dreamy, earning more head pets and a laugh for the comment. He felt
almost drugged, he felt so calm and relaxed. Encouraged, he continued since he
was now in a sharing mood. �No really, I think you�re the most beautiful person
I�ve ever seen. Not always the brightest shinobi-�
�Hey!�
�But
you�re the most compassionate, stubborn, wonderful shinobi. Ever.� He finished,
reaching up to take one of the hands resting in his hair. The hand pulled free
of his grip and panic seized him at the loss of contact. His good mood left in
a cold rush as he berated himself for his stupidity. He should have kept his
mouth shut! He shouldn�t have- but then fingers intertwined with his and all of
his doubts fled.
�And
sexy, don�t forget sexy.� Naruto murmured, bending down to brush lips against
Sasuke�s forehead and restoring the Uchiha�s earlier contentment. �And determined.�
A kiss �And completely perfect.� Another kiss, followed by another and another,
little pecks that went from one side of the brunette�s brow to the other,
tickling and teasing until the Sasuke laughed again.
�You
should do that more often.� The blonde said against the other�s temple. �It�s a
nice sound. It makes you sound younger, friendlier.�
�Can
I stay with you?� Sasuke asked sleepily, again trying to pry his eyes open as
Naruto sat back and took the brunette�s hands in his own.
�I
am wherever you are.� A pause then a Sasuke�s hands were being squeezed
tightly. �I�m sorry. Kyuu jumped into you and I� kinda came along for the ride.
You�re stuck with me until the fox figures a way to get us out.�
�So,
I�m your�� The Uchiha felt his mouth work as he tried to process what Naruto
was telling him. He tried to fight down the confusion, tried to dismiss it as
dream nonsense; he was asleep, he had to be, and everything in dreams made
sense. It was waking up that was hard because that was when what had been
perfectly logical the night before went right out the window under the harsh
light of day. Naruto�s spirit was inside him, was really there and not just
some hallucination... �Are you saying I�m your�Vessel?�
�Well,�
The blonde paused again, making little hmm-ing noises while he leaned left and
right, obviously thinking hard about the Uchiha�s question. �I guess. That�s
probably the simplest way of looking at. Yeah! You�re my vessel like I was
Kyuubi�s.� Another pause before asking in a small voice, �Do you mind?�
Did
he mind? Did he?
�I
damned you, didn�t I?� Sasuke asked softly, feeling his lower lip tremble as
despair crashed over him. He should have known, should have known! Gentle people have a very sensitive intuition
for understanding others. They know things implicitly without facts or reasons,
having to only look at you and know what you needed even if you didn�t. They would
just know and because of this, they would be compelled to help.
Alive,
Naruto had been one of these people despite everything the blonde had been
through and in death the instinctive reaction to comfort had not diminished in
the slightest. By the same token in death, just as in life, Sasuke had hurt the
blonde with his thoughtlessness, with his selfishness. Without lifting a
finger, the Uchiha had still managed to cause the other pain, had ripped
Paradise away, and punished Naruto when all Sasuke had wanted to do was reward
him.
If
this Naruto was real, if the blonde�s spirit really did now reside within the
brunette�s body, then it meant that Sasuke�s love had condemned them both to
suffer for his transgressions.
�No,
teme, don�t cry.� His hands were released as Naruto began wiping at his eyes,
trying to soothe the tears away. �Please don�t cry! Please? There�s no reason for
you to cry! I didn�t want to go!�
Naruto
put his hands on either side of Sasuke�s face, his thumbs prying open the
other�s eyes, and the sudden onslaught of light startled the brunette. He tried
to jerk away but the blonde wouldn�t let him, holding him firm until his eyes
adjusted. Then all Sasuke could see was blue because Naruto had hunched over
him so that they could look one another in the eye.
�Sasuke,
I didn�t want to go.� He said
slowly, firmly, as if speaking to someone mentally deficient. �I wanted to stay with you. You didn�t keep me here. We died and
Kyuubi shoved all our souls into your body like a lifeboat because my body was
too� damaged. And now you�re suffering because there�s no seal to protect you
from Kyuubi�s chakra and it�s frying your brain and destroying your body and,
though it�s trying, the fox can�t fix it all because this place is so god-damned
screwy!�
�But
why?� Sasuke�s voice was small and hesitant, making him sound more like a child
than anything. �Why didn�t you go?�
�Because
you wouldn�t be there.� Naruto said simply, pulling back slightly to offer a
watery smile as his blue eyes filled with tears. �I searched for you for so
long, Sasuke. I searched and searched but when I found you I couldn�t get you
to come home. And then Akatsuki caught me and I thought I�d never see you
again!� The blonde was hugging him awkwardly, holding the Uchiha tight as if he
would never let go, sobbing his heart out. This didn�t bother Sasuke since he
was doing the same to Naruto. �But suddenly you were there! You were yelling
and screaming, fighting with everything you had to get to me even though you
were so injured�� Naruto pulled back again and this time he gave a real smile,
the one Sasuke had loved but had seen so rarely when they were younger. �How
the hell could I leave you behind? How could I go anywhere without you after that? You�re my rival, Sasuke, and my
friend. My greatest enemy and my staunchest ally. You�re my beautiful,
wonderful, Sasuke. I love you!�
Then
Sasuke sat up and Naruto crushed him in a bear hug. They clung to one another,
both crying happy tears as they kissed, as they rejoiced.
No
matter the circumstances, they were together again. �

He
was gone! Again!
Andrew
resisted the urge to kick the door to Sasuke�s bedroom as he closed it, hearing
the useless lock click into place automatically. He�d come up here to check on
the teenager one last time for the day and possible for a much longer period,
only to find the brunette gone.
It
was becoming a theme the blonde wasn�t sure he appreciated.
Feeling
quite put out and extremely pissed off after an afternoon of getting screamed
at by Hikaru, Andrew felt he had every right to stomp down the stairway as he
was doing now. His brother-in-law wanted Sasuke gone, unsurprisingly, but when
Neji, Frank, and the newly arrived Sam also began siding with Hikaru, Andrew
couldn�t help but feel a bit betrayed. The only ones who agreed with Andrew about
the strange brunette were Hinata and his nearly hysterical sons.
So
when everyone convened in his office to verbally fight about the issue, it was
Andrew alone who fought to keep Sasuke here; the kids were sent to play in the
play room where they wouldn�t hear the argument while Hinata had been sent to
her bedroom since she desperately needed to sleep before she passed out from
exhaustion.
Shoving
his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, the blonde turned toward the
kitchen when he reached the foot of the stairs. Suki always teased him about
this, said that being an emotional chef was going to wind up making them all
fat, but right now Andrew needed to direct his energy into something
constructive or else he was going to unleash his temper on the next poor soul
who crossed his path.
Wanting
some comfort but too angry to be around his children, Andrew rummaged through
the refrigerator and began pulling out the ingredients he wanted, setting them
all on the counter by the sink and shutting the fridge once he was done. He got
out a small pot from the cupboards under the countertop, paused, then put it
away in favor of its more larger cousin. It had been a really, really, really
bad day.
Moving
to the far side of the room near the kitchen table, he raided the pantry for a
few cans of soup base, opening them and dumping the contents into the pot,
setting the liquid to simmer before returning to the counter.
As
they left, his children had pleaded that Sasuke not be sent away, that Andrew
not put the teenager back in the hospital. They seemed convinced that some sort
of calamity would befall should the strange teenager be put back in the medical
facility and, quite frankly, Andrew felt the same. Suki�s plane had been coming
back from Japan, her native
land, and he couldn�t help but wonder if her estranged family had had something
to do with the cause behind her plane crashing into the ocean as she returned
to the United States.
Neither
Suki nor Hikaru Uchiha talked much about their family, something that did not
bother Andrew Pryderi in the slightest. He loved his wife and knew enough to
have a vague idea about her personal history, having found out quickly in their
ten years of marriage that if he kept his mouth shut and left her alone she
would tell him what he wanted to know. He knew that anything she considered a
relevant part of her life had begun once she and Hikaru came to the States at
the ages of thirteen and eighteen respectively. They had both gone to boy�s
school, blending in with the recent influx of Asian students without incident,
and keeping to themselves for the most part. Hikaru had gotten a job with a lawyer
firm right out of high school to support them both, going to business law
classes at night, while Suki, having won a scholarship, had gone straight to
college to get her degree and had later landed the roll in an independent film
that she became famous for. As far as his wife was concerned, the only thing
really noteworthy was that she had spent those years in disguise, living her
life as a boy so that if her family pursued them she would not be as easily
found. ��
This,
of course, had led to the question of why she and her brother had fled from her
family. Andrew had asked repeatedly after their wedding, bothered by the
potential threat to their developing family, especially as they were planning out when
would be the best time to have children. If something major was on the horizon,
then he as her spouse had a right to know, didn�t she think? For a long time
Suki had refused to tell him, citing personal reasons, and it had become a
point of contention between the two of them. Four years and several fights
later, she had finally laid out a bare outline of her life in Japan when they
found out they were pregnant.
The
issue settled, no more needed to be said and when the boys began asking about
their relatives, Andrew and Suki told them that her side of the family was
dead.��
In
reality this was far from the truth.� The
Uchiha Clan, a very influential family in Japan, was very much alive and
kicking. The family was wealthy beyond imagination and a force to be reckoned
with, having a hand in nearly every business venture except entertainment. The
last was something the blonde found incredibly odd but, then again, this is
probably what had encouraged Suki to pursue a career in the arts. Perhaps it
was a mandate of their religion that they not join that particular branck of buisness; among everything else, the Uchiha family also ran a shrine dedicated to the god Inari and his kitsune servants.�
Andrew
frowned, mechanically chopping the leek and onion in front of him as he thought
about a certain picture on the wall in Suki�s office. It had taken him ages to persuade
her to free it from the dusty box of photographs it had been in for years and
hang it up where it could be admired. Every few years, Suki and Hikaru went
home to pay their respects at the shrine, a difficult feat since they had to do
so in secret. Seeing the picture reminded Suki of bad memories, she said, and
when he had thoughtlessly commented about them not being too bad since she was
wearing the cute outfit of a shrine maiden, she had nearly torn his head off.
Hikaru,
while helping the blonde ice his cheek, had then explained that it had been
part of a ceremony. Apparently, when a young woman came of marriageable age, it
was the custom to ask for the blessing of the kitsunes and their associated
diety. In the Uchiha family, the youngest child served at the shrine before
marriage and since Suki was the youngest of three children, she had grown up as a
shrine maiden. So, when she came of age, the pair returned to the shrine and,
under the cover of darkness, prayed for Inari�s protection at the shrine�s
alter. The next day, at a public ceremony, Suki along with a multitude of other
girls had dressed up in traditional robes and been blessed by the temple priest.
The
photo had been taken at that time and though the story behind it left him
properly subdued, the blonde still thought his wife looked cute dressed up in
the orange and white maiden outfit, standing in front of the torii gate
strightfaced with her cheeks marked with sacred ash in the pattern of a fox�s
whiskers. Thinking about it, she had be�What? Seventeen in the picture?
With
practiced motions, he transferred the cut up vegetables to the pot, giving the
mix a stir before lowering the heat and placing a lid on the container. He
returned to the cutting board and began coarsely chopping potatoes up, wondering
idly if the cook tomorrow would yell at him for using them. When he was through
and the tuber had been added to the pot�s contents, Andrew sighed and set about
peeling and soaking replacement potatoes.
It
was very quiet, he realized, immediately feeling himself tense. It was only- he
looked over at the kitchen clock, feeling himself smile on reflex when he spied
the rooster shaped device- almost seven in the evening, way too early for two
healthy energetic boys to be in bed. A chill went down his spine and Andrew hurriedly
dried off his hands on a tea towel, cursing himself and the soup and his
God-damn temper as he strode out of the room into the hall.
They
weren�t in the playroom. They weren�t in their room. Not in Aiko�s room or the
living room or the dinning room. He checked the closets in the hall, the
sitting room, and the bathrooms. All of them were empty and dark. Fearing that
they may have come to harm while pulling the same stunt they had earlier that
day, Andrew jogged back to the kitchen. He flipped on the outside lights and
opened the back door, leaning out until he could see the tree that had caused
such an uproar that morning.
�Hey!�
Andrew shouted, watching the large plant stir and shake off its new coating of
snow. He realized that another storm had kicked up, making the wind that lashed
at him feel like knives cutting into his skin. �Have you seen the kids?! Have
they been out here at all?!�
The
blonde began to feel like an idiot as, for a long stretch, the tree did not
move. For some reason he felt as if it were staring at him, incredulous that he
would be asking it such a question. But then it swayed its branches from side
to side in a clear negative.
At
least the kids were inside the house.
�Thank
you!� Andrew called, earning a lazy salute. �If you see them can you let me
know?� He then mentally kicked himself -how the hell was a tree (A TREE, ANDREW!) going to tell him
anything?! What did he expect it to do, tap out a message in Morse code on the
house�s siding?
But
then one of the tree�s largest boughs began to curl its smaller branches into
something that resembled a fist and Andrew truly thought the damn thing was
going to give him the finger. Instead it gave him a distinctive thumbs-up sign
before making a lazy shooing motion.
Blinking
both from cold and his own bout of incredulity, Andrew shouted his appreciation
again and pulled back into the house, shutting the door behind him and leaning
his back against it.
That was so damn weird. He shook his head, turned off the outside lights, and
began searching again.

More�s Moment:
�� Apologies one and all for the lateness of the chapter. I
tried to make up for it a by making the chapter longer.
�� A note on time here. I admit that we went from morning to
evening fairly quickly but for anyone feeling lost, here�s a rough timeline for
Sunday:
�� The kids sneak into Sasuke�s bed room around 3AM.
�� From 5AM- 9:45AM the boys are down stairs in the play
room.
�� Hikaru sees the tree for the first time at 9AM
�� Sasuke wakes and flees from breakfast at roughly 10AM
�� In his room, he passes out a little before 11AM and is
found a few minutes later by Hinata.
�� From 11:30 AM to 5PM, Sasuke is unconscious, everyone
else is fighting down stairs.
�� Alex finds him in the shower at 5:45PM. They�re
downstairs from then on.
�� Alex blows off steam a bit before 7PM.

�� For those readers who may still be feeling a little
displaced, take comfort- it�s deliberate and the breakdown above is only a
rough idea of the day�s timeline.
�� I�m not sure when the next chapter will be done since I
am working hard on the next chapter of Bared Naked. (No complaining about
updating this story and not the other, please. I can�t put up a chapter when
it�s not written.) Since this chapter was over due, I wanted to get this one
done.
�� Thanks everyone! Happy tales, everyone!
Teaser:
�� Andrew finds his kids and also has a chat with... Kyuubi?
- 7
- 8
- 9
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The Banks Of The River Styx