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Il Contratto Diabolico	By : silversound Category: Naruto AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1198 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I neither own nor am in any way associated with the anime/manga series Naruto. Absolutely no profits are being made form the production of this piece of fiction.

Chapter List
- 1-Teaser - It comes in threes.
- 2-Awakening to a nightmare.
- 1
- 2
Title: Il Contratto Diabolico (The Devil's Contract)

Rating: HARD M

Fandom: Naruto

Themes: Alternate Universe, dark, hurt-comfort, mild sci-fi, romance
Summary:On his twentieth birthday Uzumaki Naruto wakes up half-dead in a ditch in the middle of nowhere, with no memory of how he got there and nothing but questions - The most important of which is: "Exactly who is S.U.?"sasunaru AU, Dark
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. None of the characters in this story have any relation to real individuals, living or dead. Characters and elements of the setting are borrowed from the anime/manga series "Naruto". Plot concept entirely inspired by an excellent online novel, which is apparently now non-existent. This is purely for self-amusement. No profits are being made from this piece of fiction.
Warning: Due to the fact that this story will eventually contain graphically detailed violence and very mature themes, I'm rating this not just as "M" but as a Hard M.Expect...ehhh...unpleasant material (non consensual sex, dubious consent, coercion, hatesex, sadomasochism, general psychological discomfort, trainwreck romance...) due to the nature of their relationship, which you will eventually understand. The teaser itself is pretty benign though, so feel free to read ahead without fear.
Phew. With all of that out of the way...Enjoy!

il contratto diabolico

Teaser: It comes in threes.

"So, where you headed?"
Tazuna glanced up briefly to eye his newest fare through the rear-view mirror, as the taxi's frame sank a few centimeters with the sudden addition of another person's weight.
"Hokoku International, Terminal B," came the rushed reply, just barely audible over the blaring traffic outside.
"...Please." His passenger added politely after a slight delay, clearly preoccupied with other thoughts.
With a curt nod, the older man put the car into gear and pulled off into the steady stream of automobiles that clogged the city streets, cursing under his breath as an aggressive driver just barely let him into the far right lane.
"Asshole...," the cabby muttered under his breath.
Afternoon rush was always a bitch in Konoha. In the forty or so years that he had been a driver, it was the one thing about the city that hadn't changed.
He took another look into the mirror to examine his oddly silent passenger. Not that he minded the quiet, but usually people headed to the airport were much more talkative. His fare, on the other hand, stared out the window wordlessly, his dark expression a stark contrast to his bright blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked to be in his early twenties – far too young for the despondent weariness that showed through his gaze.
"Picking someone up?" the cab driver asked casually, noticing that the boy had no luggage with him.
There was a short silence as the youth looked up confusedly from where he had been staring out the window. He seemed inordinately startled at having been spoken to, as if he'd momentarily forgotten that there was another party in the car.
"...Oh. Uh...no...," he answered awkwardly, eyes narrowing in an expression that was downright painful to look at.
Deciding that his obligatory attempt at small talk had been unsuccessful and that his fare would probably prefer to finish out the ride in silence, Tazuna shrugged to himself and left it at that. If the kid didn't want to talk, he didn't want to talk. The older man certainly would not try to force him.
The ride to airport was a relatively short one – soon he was pulling onto the exit that indicated the correct terminal, and unbidden the seasoned cabby's mouth dropped open unintentionally when he saw what awaited them there.
Police cars and other emergency vehicles swarmed the area in front of the terminal, as multiple human forms rushed in and out of the building, the majority of them EMS workers and other medical response personnel. Several media trucks were on site too, cameras and reporters weaving through the mess as they attempted to take statements from anyone who could or would speak with them, desperate to catch the apparent mayhem on video in time for the evening news.
Taking in the veritable circus surrounding the terminal, understanding immediately flooded Tazuna's thoughts as he put two and two together.
"You can let me off here," the boy said quietly as he too took in the sight before them, noticeably less shocked than his driver.
"Ah...Sure," the older man answered quickly, slowly pulling the car to a halt to let his passenger out. The boy's decision was a sound one – there was no way he'd be able to get his cab out of that mess if he proceeded any further.
"How much?" inquired the young man, purposefully reaching for his back pocket, a grim set to his jaw.
Tazuna simply shook his head from side to side and eyed him pointedly through the rear view mirror. "Don't worry about it," the older man insisted gruffly. He now understood the reason for has passenger's odd behavior - a free ride seemed like the very least he could do considering the circumstances.
The young man didn't say anything in response, just bowed his head deeply in appreciation and made his way toward the thick of it with slow, unsteady steps, almost as if in a trance.
Watching his fare stumble off into the madness that awaited ahead, the man instinctively glanced toward his rear-view mirror, where a photo of his daughter and young grandson hung from a small chain. Slowly shaking his head, the cabby switched on the radio as he made an illegal u-turn and pulled off again, already in search of another fare. He had long ago given up on believing in God, but he still hoped from the bottom of his heart that someone was looking out for the solemn young man whom he had just dropped off.
[-And the death toll continues to rise as more reports of bodies pulled from the wreckage are coming in. So far it has been difficult to identify victims of the crash as many of them are severely burned, their luggage and other items of identification incinerated in the blast. Reports are steadily coming in from first response technicians and police in regards to what officials here are calling one of the worst landing accidents in the past three decades. We'll keep you updated as we here at WKYX continue to deliver you live reports from Hokoku International Airport...]

Naruto's eyes swam as he took in the mayhem all around him. He'd managed to get past the police stationed at the front of the terminal after explaining his situation and showing his ID, and was now being ushered to a makeshift waiting area – a large, well appointed room with a bar, probably used as one of those upscale waiting areas for priority passengers in ordinary times - where a large mass of other people bearing expressions that housed varying states of disbelief and anxiety were gathered together. He realized right away that they were all just like him – people who were waiting for word as to whether their loved ones had survived the accident.
What was different about Naruto, however, was that unlike most of the other people there, he was all alone.
Mothers, fathers, children, grandparents – all huddled close to one-another as people whispered words of encouragement amongst themselves, cried, prayed or even just sat in tense silence together.
Slowly making his way through the crowd, Naruto approached the bar, where a few large flatscreen televisions were mounted overhead, streaming live reports of the crash. Currently the names of the injured and deceased were not being released publicly by the media, but the police officer he had spoken to had assured him that someone would be around to notify him once they learned anything about his parents and whether or not they were still alive. Truth be told, he was still reeling after having been called away from his afternoon classes with the news that his mom and dad had been in an accident.
The blonde clenched his fists together until his knuckes blanched.
"Mom...Dad...please..." he whispered to himself, unable to keep the oncoming tears from his voice as he trembled a little, "We can't-...I can't do this without you."
He stood frozen like that for almost an hour, silently eying the television screen in a near catatonic state as impartial seeming images flickered across it continually, until at last the heavy double doors at the far end of the room opened to admit a very official looking lady in a dark navy blue suit – most likely one of the higher ups from the local law enforcement – flanked by two uniformed officers and another, slightly younger woman dressed in similarly formal attire. The woman in navy was immediately mobbed by frantic people desperate for word of their loved ones, and it soon became clear that the uniformed officers had come along to ensure order. They quickly stepped out in front of her, raising their hands in gestures of placation.
The mob backed off, but no one in the crowd bothered to restrain their anxiety as they called out names of individuals at her all at once, each hoping for an immediate answer. The woman finally had to silence them all by raising her voice and putting a hand in the air.
"If everyone could please calm down for a moment!" she cried, her high voice barely carrying over the near hysterical crowd. She waited a few moments for the noise to die down before she spoke again.
"I have here with me papers with the names of those who we've identified thus far as well as which hospitals they've been moved to. I have with me one for each of you," she assured them. Her voice was somewhat high-pitched, but still steely with authority, and carried well even across the large room. It was obvious that she had done this sort of thing before.
"Now, I'm going to leave them all on this table here at the front of the room. My assistant here will be calling you up by your last names, so please approach in an orderly fashion when called. The document that she hands you will have the names of your loved ones and where you can find them. And please, if your name is not called, do not worry - we are still receiving information from medical personnel. Again, my condolences to every one of you, and good luck to you all."
With that she gave a respectful bow before she slowly turned and headed out the way she had come, heels clicking away on the tile at a brisk pace just before the process began.
Naruto's eyes narrowed in empathy, watching people approach the remaining official one group at a time as their names were called. He saw people cry, curse, and even nearly collapse lifelessly where they stood, all displaying various stages of despair, anger, or relief as they received the information on their relatives. Only a few seemed to have had positive news, and they quickly hurried from the room, supposedly off to where their injured loved ones were being transported by ambulance or medivac. Others merely stood blankly, crestfallen at the news that had greeted them. A heavy atmosphere settled over the room as more and more people were confronted with the realization that they would not be seeing their loved ones alive again.
Fortunately or unfortunately, his last name, Uzumaki[*], was toward the top of the list alphabetically, and he soon heard his surname being called out from the front of the room.
The blonde managed to keep it together up until the very last moment as he approached the young woman handing out information, but he finally faltered as he came to a halt in front of her. With a slightly shaking hand he plucked the sheet from her hands and stepped aside to let the next group approach. It appeared to be a list of all those pulled from the crash and to which locations they had been transported. Slowly, he let his eyes rove over the page until they stopped on one particular, boldly printed line that had been highlighted.
Kashiwada Atsushi, Kashiwada Miho – DOA – Konoha General, Unit B1 South – Morgue.
Time seemed to stand still as the solitary young man stared at the two names printed side by side on the list. His mouth hung open slightly as he read and re-read the single line of information over and over again, as if it might change its contents before his very eyes.
But yet and still, there it was.
Both his parents' entire existences reduced to two little finite lines of print. They seemed to glare back at him, the emotionless black ink reeking of finality as his mind struggled to process what he was seeing.
Kashiwada Atsushi, Kashiwada Miho – DOA
Dead On Arrival.
Naruto unconsciously let the piece of paper slip from his hands. It fluttered away from his fingertips and down to the floor with little more than a dry whisper as it touched the ground. All around him people who had received similar news clung together in their sorrow. All alone, he stood out like a sore thumb.
Slowly, the young man's limbs moved as if of their own accord, carrying him back out of the room in a sort of thoughtless haze - past the security guards who stood watch over the door to the observation deck that he had been on, and down the long corridor that led back to the airport's large atrium. Latecomers were still steadily coming in, and they pushed by him in a single-minded state of controlled frenzy as they headed toward where the police were stationed. He moved listlessly to the side to let them past, unperturbed by the brusque way they shoved by him, all the while continuing on a steady path toward the exit.
He would have kept on that way if he hadn't been stopped by a sudden flash of a familiar pink color at the edge of his peripheral vision. The glimpse he caught was enough to stop him cold, and soon had him turning around to confirm his suspicion.
Sweeping around the wide hall, his eyes soon caught on a young woman with blossom pink hair, who stood just across the way. Eyes widening in recognition, Naruto was about to call out to her when he realized that she was not alone.
The young woman in question was accompanied by a pallid young man with short dark hair who was seated in a wheel chair, and who was currently engaged in conversation with a police officer. His unhealthily pale skin glistened in a sickly manner under the overly bright fluorescent lights that beamed down from overhead, as he sat curled in his seat. The young man in question was so thin that the officer he was conversing with looked a bit worried as they spoke, eying his thin chest with notable concern. It was no wonder; The youth's collarbone – what was visible of it from underneath his light knit top – was looking woefully sunken in.
Naruto felt confusion well up inside his chest, only to be slowly replaced by an inexplicable blinding rage as he processed what was going on.
"Sakura...? ….Sai?" He shouted out abruptly, immediately drawing the young man and his pink haired companion's eyes to himself.
"N-Naruto...!" the girl's head whipped around to lock eyes on him as she responded, looking bewildered herself, and a bit nervous at the same time.
"Nii-san[*]," The youth in the wheel chair whispered, voice sounding desperately weak and dry, "You're here already."
If possible, the raven haired boy looked at once anxious and relieved. His lips remained parted in an unspoken question, even as Naruto lowered his eyes and shook his head slowly from side to side in reply.
Both Sai and Sakura lowered their eyes in kind as they realized what his gesture meant, a hushed silence falling over all three. Naruto felt tears welling in his eyes again, until they were suddenly burned away by his quickly resurfacing ire.
"Sai, what the fuck are you doing here?" he demanded, practically hissing in anger as his head whipped up to pin his wheelchair-bound younger brother with a narrowed gaze, "You're supposed to be in the hospital!"
"Nii-san...I knew you'd be upset. But I had to come," the invalid replied quietly, not at all discouraged by his brother's heated glare, "I called Sakura and..."
"What the hell, Sakura...you too!" This time his anger was turned on the pink haired girl who stood staring at her feet in silence, guilt written all over her face, "You're a goddamned med student for fuck's sake! What the hell are you doing taking him out of the hospital like that!" The blonde shouted, throwing his hands up into the air at his sides in frustration.
"Don't be angry with her, Naruto," Sai interjected, in an attempt to calm the raging youth down, "I begged her to bring me as soon as I heard about the accident on the news."
He raised baleful black eyes to meet glinting blue ones, as if pleading for understanding.
"I couldn't let you come alone," the young man finished softly, eying his hands as he folded them carefully in his lap, so frail and yet refusing to yield his ground.
"And what the hell did you hope to accomplish by coming all the way out here? Huh!" Naruto shouted back, voice continuing to rise in volume uncontrollably as he let his emotions reign him, "You can barely even breathe on your own, Sai – what the hell kind of good could you possibly be doing anyone by checking out of the hospital and making Sakura wheel your ass all the way out here in your condition! You-!"
"Sir, is there a problem?" came an authoritative voice from not far away. Apparently his outburst had attracted the attention of a nearby police officer, who was staring at them with raised eyebrows.
"No ma'am. He's just...he just got some difficult news. You understand," Sakura filled in quickly, cheeks tingeing pink with embarrassment as she tossed a meaningful gaze the blonde's way, "Sorry for the disturbance."
"I understand your situation, " the police officer answered compassionately, nodding her head, "And you have my condolences. But if you've already received information on your relatives' status and location, it would be best if you head to their location and let us take care of things here, understood?"
Sakura and Sai nodded obediently as Naruto stood shaking in impotent rage, entirely too riled to be embarrassed.
He knew that he shouldn't have yelled at Sai like that, but it felt like his emotions were out of his control. He'd been bad off already when he'd gotten the news about their folks, but seeing his invalid brother at the airport – looking much the worse for wear and in no condition to be out and about – it had thrown him over the edge. Naruto felt like screaming until his lungs would allow no more, but settled for glaring at his own feet viciously instead.
"Nii-san..." the dark haired boy said again, this time unable to hide his anguish. His sallow eyes glistened with unshod tears as his voice trailed off.
"I think we'd better go," the ever-calm pink haired girl interjected gently, as though to break the tension, moving to take the handles of her invalid friend's wheelchair, "I really am sorry Naruto. But please understand that we just didn't want you to have to deal with this alone. I'm taking Sai back to the hospital now. We came by taxi – do you want to come back with us?"
After a few moments the blonde relented, though he was still visibly upset, and the three of them made their way outside to hail a cab. On the way to the hospital where Sai had been held for observation until that day, Naruto realized with a grim sort of helplessness that it was the very same hospital to whose morgue their parents had been transported.

The blonde sagged in his chair as he waited to be seen. His inner process was an anxious mess that was wholly unrepresented in his loose posture.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The soft male voice that emanated from the door to the office startled the blonde much more than was appropriate, as he nearly jumped out of his chair. Seeing how on edge the youth was, the man that had entered the room carefully took a seat, a serious look on his face.
"No!...No, it's okay," the blue eyed youth assured, "I know how busy you are. I'm just glad you could see me on such short notice. Thank you."
The other man smiled back at him pleasantly, his eyes softening despite the grave nature of their business together. He had known Naruto since he was an awkward middle school student, and thought of the other boy as something more akin to family than anything else. That was precisely why it pained his heart to pass on to the young man the news that he had for him today.
"So? Any progress, Sensei[*]?" the boy asked hopefully, pinning the man with that intense cerulean blue gaze that seemed to peer into his heart directly. In response the man used his thumb and forefinger to massage the old scar that spread across his nose, now nothing more than a slight discoloring that marred his nut brown skin in a thin slash of darker brown.
"Please, Naruto, I've told you – 'Iruka' is just fine," the physician insisted for what seemed like the hundredth time since he had become close with the boy.
"Sorry...Iruka, have you got anything for me?" the blonde rephrased a bit bashfully.
In response the man merely shook his head apologetically, sorry that he had to be the bearer of bad news once again, and to someone who'd had more than his fair share of bad news in this lifetime at that.
"I've told you before Naruto - money helps, but there's really nothing we can do unless a suitable donor comes along. Nobody can jump the list," Iruka explained patiently and regretfully but frankly, "The fact is, right now the money that your parents left to you would be better spent keeping Sai as comfortable as possible until we find a donor."
The blonde lowered his head at the young doctor's words, as he was told what he had already half-expected and feared the most. Naruto cursed himself over and over in his mind for getting his hopes up again. He knew that he was many times the fool already, but now he was just grasping at straws. He had been told before that although money was necessary for his brother to receive the care that he needed, it was not everything. Some things just could not be bought – a compatible heart donor at just the right time and a spot at the top of the recipient list were apparently two of those things.
Seeing the crestfallen look that poisoned the young man's gaze, the physician sought to comfort him as best he could. Aside from helping patients face reality, this too was a part of the work of a doctor – bestowing hope.
"Naruto, listen to me," he said, demanding the boy's attention,"Sai is doing remarkably well right now considering the circumstances. I have complete confidence that he will be able to hold out until a suitable donor comes in. I've even gotten in touch with an organization based in Sakoku[*] that supports families in your situation and helps locate possible donors. I've emailed you their information just this morning in fact."
His words, though not the answer that the youth had hoped for, still managed to restore a little of the troubled young man's faith that things would turn out. Feeling encouraged by the way that Naruto's features had lightened slightly, Iruka continued on.
"What your brother needs from you now is for you to stay strong. You're...all he has now," the man finished, a slight note of empathy entering his otherwise soothing tone. Having been orphaned himself at a young age, he knew exactly where the boy was emotionally right now. Having treated both him and his brother Sai for years, it pained him to see them in the same situation that he himself had been at an even younger age.
"You can do this, Naruto."
His last words somehow seemed to have the impact desired, as he saw the flames of determination flare back to life a little in the boy's eyes. Clenching his fists tight and gritting his teeth a little, Naruto slowly nodded as he thanked his family physician and good friend for his sage council and promised to do his best – a promise not to his doctor, but to his brother and himself.
The blonde excused himself from the room and headed off right after, but long after his departure Iruka found himself staring at the spot where the blonde had just sat, praying to his innermost self that his patient's desperate wish for his brother's recuperation be fulfilled, and soon.

Their parents' viewing was a small affair. Naruto had seen to it that all of their friends and neighbors be invited to share in the remembrance of Miho and Atsushi Kashiwada, including those who had been employed at the shop that the two of them had owned. Unfortunately, neither their adoptive mother nor father had any family that Naruto knew of, so it was only friends that attended, but it was a full house nonetheless.
Everyone who had known the two of them personally had nothing but praise, and it was bittersweet to hear all the ways that they had touched other peoples' lives and would be remembered. Despite what had transpired at the airport almost five days ago, Naruto and Sai sat side by side for the duration, and approached together when it was their time to light incense for their parents' departure as their only immediate family.
As they stood over their mother and father, Naruto thought to himself that they looked well taken care of - the mortician seemed to have captured the essence of what they had looked like in life remarkably well. He felt heavy emotion starting to well up inside himself as he remembered that after today his parents would be taken to the crematory, and that after that he and Sai would go together to choose which of their bones they wanted to have turned into ashes to keep afterward. In effect, this was the last time he would see them whole, living or not.
The entire ceremony seemed to both drag on and fly by too quickly at once. No sooner were they lighting their incense than the rest of the guests proceeded to do the same, and before he knew it the monk was back at the front saying a final prayer over the two bodies.
During the reception, Naruto made a point to approach Sakura, who was also in attendance, and apologize to her for his outburst the other day. He still felt awful about what he had said to her and Sai the day of the accident, and right now was overwhelmed with the urge to make it right before saying a final goodbye to his parents. He knew that they would be disappointed with him if they knew that he had been so brash with both his brother and his close friend, especially since it had been his own anguish and feelings of inadequacy that had fueled his behavior. He was supposed to protect Sai and Sakura, whether the latter appreciated his brand of protectiveness or not.
It was his way of being an adult. And on that horrible day, though he had officially become the man of the house, he had failed to protect either one of them, and had instead succumbed to his basest, most childish impulses. Hot shame welled up inside him as Sakura, ever the level-headed one out of the three of them, accepted his apology with that little carefree smile of hers that she showed sometimes when she was trying to make someone feel better. It was his favorite look, the one that so subtly said – 'Hey, whatever - Let's put it behind us.'
"It's okay, Naruto," the pink haired girl replied as he bowed his head low to her, reaching out a comforting hand to rest on one of his broad shoulders, and obviously fighting back tears herself as she gave a little encouraging squeeze, "We've all been there in some way before. I know you didn't really mean any of the things you said that day. So don't beat yourself up anymore than you already have. Okay?"
So saying, she pulled him in for a kind hug, offering a soft peck on his right cheek.
"More importantly, have you apologized to Sai?" Sakura whispered, ever the peacemaker. He had known she was going to ask, but that didn't make it any easier to answer. Especially when he felt like his heart was racing out of control in his chest.
"Yeah," he replied in a rush of air that was more like a sigh. Just seeing how puffy and red her face was from crying was making him start to both tear up and crack a smile at the same time. He would probably never tell her, but Sakura was actually rather cute when she cried. It reminded him that she too could be fragile and emotional at times.
"Well...kind of, I guess," he amended a bit lamely, as she pulled away, "I said I was sorry, but we still haven't really talked it over much. I mean, I said some pretty harsh stuff to him, you know?"
In reply the girl just nodded slightly, giving a knowing sigh. She was worried about the both of them, but knew better than to try and butt in and force them to reconcile the way she would have when they were kids. The two of them would just have to work it out between themselves.
"Nii-san, Sakura," a soft tenor broke the short, thoughtful silence that had settled between the two friends, causing them both to look up sharply.
"Speak of the devil!" Sakura said brightly, shooting Naruto a meaningful look out of the corner of her eye as she leaned in to embrace his adoptive brother.
"Sai," she said softly as she hugged him – a bit tighter than she had himself, Naruto noticed with a reaffirming twinge of hurt, "I am so sorry for your loss. They were wonderful people."
"Sakura-san, thank you," the dark haired boy replied gently. Naruto felt a hint of some unidentified, dark emotion shadow his heart as he realized that though Sai was hugging Sakura, the fragile dark haired boy was looking at his older brother with some unreadable expression even as he accepted their friend's embrace. Unable to return Sai's strangely intense gaze, the bereaved blonde rather unsurreptitiously averted his gaze by turning and pretending to scan the crowd for anyone he had yet to greet and thank for their attendance...
And was immediately distracted by an unfamiliar flash of black hair and fair skin in the crowd. Eyes narrowing as his curiosity was piqued for some inexplicable reason, Naruto found himself following after the stranger thoughtlessly. By the time he realized what he was doing, he'd rationalized to himself that he wasn't running from his brother and Sakura, but rather doing his job as a responsible host by dutifully greeting all those in attendance.
He thought that he might be catching up to the stranger when they approached the back exit, expecting his quarry to halt before reaching the door. However, Naruto was surprised to find that instead the other continued right through the large double doors before the young host could capture even a glimpse of his face. At this point, the blonde had grown rather perplexed - from the short glimpses that he had caught so far of the man's back, the individual did not fit the description of any acquaintance that Naruto could think of. There was the slight possibility that he had been an acquaintance of their parents - some business associate or another - but having been left only with the slight impression of a sturdy, tall-ish build and feathered - (or rather, spiked?) - black tresses, the stranger seemed rather young to fit the profile of anyone that he had known his adoptive parents to have dealings with in life.
Regardless, after a moment's hesitation at the back door, Naruto chose to pursue, deciding that he wouldn't look too foolish for interrupting the man if he happened to just be stepping out for a cigarette break. And so, with a quick glance at the crowd to make sure that he would not be missed for a moment, the blonde slipped out the back door.
A brisk, late autumn breeze caressed his face the moment he stepped into the alley in the back of the funeral hall, sharply contrasting with the air of melancholy and nostalgia that had filled the building that he had emerged from. He looked this way and that, but somehow there was no sign of the male figure that he had been in pursuit of, nor any evidence that anyone but he himself had come this way. The alley was dead quiet save for the sound of his own suddenly very audible breaths and the soft whooshing sound of the wind as it continued on its journey down the wide corridor between the two buildings.
Blinking slightly in confusion, Naruto felt a frown crease his brow as he looked down at his shoes, before giving his head a soft shake. Perhaps he was just tired after the difficult week that he'd had making his parents' final arrangements.
Still, when he returned to the funeral hall, the now utterly bewildered young man made a bee-line for the entrance, where the guest book laid open upon a small desk by the door. Narrowed cerulean blue eyes scanned each page of the book from the beginning, their owner mentally ticking off the names of those whom he already knew.
Strangely enough though, Naruto found no evidence of anyone whom he didn't already know about having been in attendance. He reasoned that it was completely possible that the man he had seen - or at least thought he had seen - had declined to sign in for whatever reason, but something about the way that he had so skillfully evaded the blonde, almost as though somehow aware that he was being pursued, left an unfamiliar and mysterious taste in Naruto's mouth. The way that the other man had moved through the crowd, almost like a shadow, or a ghost - it left him questioning whether what he had seen might have actually been real or not.
Shaking his head softly from side to side again, he ran a hand over his face, wondering why he was so hung up on the incident and mentally chastising himself for having run from Sai in such an obvious manner. Right now he ought to have been busy apologizing to his brother properly and paying his respects to his mother and father- not chasing after apparitions.
And so, with a slightly disgruntled sigh, Naruto turned and headed off to locate his brother and Sakura again.

It was late in the evening when the tired blonde finally dragged his weary bones up the walk of his family's home. However, whereas ordinarily he would have felt no hesitation in jogging up the somewhat steep walkway that led up to the pleasant yet modest looking two story house that he had called home since childhood, now he sensed a strange tug in his chest that caused his steps to falter the moment he set eyes on the edifice. It was a sort of amorphous, heavy, dull pain that settled itself somewhere in the confines of Naruto's ribcage, and he knew that pain was the knowledge that he was coming home to an empty house. An almost tangible weight made itself a home on his back as the finality of it all began to make itself apparent in his heart. This home would probably never be filled with the same kind of light that he had known these past seven and a half years. No matter how hard he tried to shy away from that knowledge, he could still feel it somehow in a very guttural way.
Naruto sighed and spared a glance to his wrist watch as he hesitated half-way up the walk. It was after eight o'clock already, but the days were still drawn long by the sun's seeming refusal to sink under the horizon before nine, meaning that it had reached that point of day when the horizon smoldered in a beautiful show of brilliant violet reds and russet golds. All around the cityscape was a dichotomy of bright, red-orange light and the deep, bluish shadows cast by anything fortunate enough to bask in said sunset. Ordinarily he might have given mental pause to bask in the last rays of daylight himself, but somehow his grief seemed to cast a soft pall on all of it - even nature's beauty seemed diminished by his state of mind.
It was at the very moment when Naruto turned his back on the setting sun to continue his trek up to the front door, that an unfamiliar voice rang out.
"- -"
The blonde was startled out of his trance-like state the instant the just barely indistinguishable words reached his ears, the apparent proximity of the source causing him to turn around sharply. The moment he did, he was greeted with a single, stationary human figure standing right at the beginning of the walkway leading up to his home. The man was tall. He could tell that even from his own slightly elevated standpoint. He could make out the hint of a strong, high bone structure and a longish mane of dark hair, but unfortunately the way that the sunset blazed in back of the masculine form caused the individual's features to be cast heavily in shadow, making them impossible to discern.
The blonde youth shuddered involuntarily. Even though he hadn't quite been able to make out the meaning of what was said, it was as if the soft words had been whispered right into his ear from behind.
Naruto squinted his eyes sharply against the overly bright light, as he stared at the mysterious figure with his mouth slightly open for a moment. He hadn't heard anything or sensed anyone on the quiet residential street on his way here, so it was rather surprising to be addressed so abruptly from behind. Briefly doubting himself, the blonde looked around to see if there was any chance that the man had been addressing someone besides himself. However, a quick glance down the street in either direction negated that possibility.
Slightly confused, the bereaved young man cleared his throat softly before addressing the figure.
"Excuse me," he ventured politely, "May I help you?"
"No," came the short reply, "But I may be able to help you."
The speaker's voice was low - what should have been almost inaudible under normal circumstances - but somehow Naruto was able to catch every word now that he was facing the other man, as if each syllable had been spoken right by his ear. Disconcerted, he blinked a few times before narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Excuse me?" he repeated. Ordinarily he was a very lenient person, but it had been a long, painful week, and he was in no mood for ambiguity or mysterious strangers approaching him at his front walk. Unfortunately, it seemed fate had little pity for him today - rather than a straight answer, all he received was a rather unsettling, low sort of laugh in return.
"Do I know you?" he tried again, his voice taking on a slightly deeper, serious tone unintentionally.
"No, but I know you...Uzumaki Naruto," the man replied, voice suddenly ringing out cold and firm.
That got the blonde's attention. He did a slight double take at the sound of his own full name being spoken back to him in that unfamiliar voice. Something deep inside him quivered as his name rolled off the other man's tongue with an unsettling ease - a deep foreboding lodged itself in his gut the moment the man had spoken his name, and refused to be dislodged by any amount of bravado. This left Naruto feeling disconcerted - he was not a fearful young man by any means.
He was about to open his mouth and demand to know what this was about, when that low, even voice stopped him cold, once again eliciting a look of shock and bewilderment from him.
"I also knew your parents."
At the very mention of his mother and father, the bottom dropped out of the blonde boy's stomach, as something fresh and raw in his heart was jabbed at. It didn't help that their positions made it impossible for him to see his counterpart's countenance, whereas he was quite sure that the bright light shining directly into his face made his every expression blatantly open to perusal by the man at the foot of the walk.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto demanded, growing more upset by the moment.
"Atsushi and Miho Kashiwada," the man elaborated, bringing home the fact that he must have known the blonde's parents in some capacity, "We had dealings before their...untimely passing."
"Dealings...what are you talking about?" his inner self still screamed danger at him, but somehow Naruto found himself being drawn in by the man's words against his will. There was still some part of him that wanted to cling to any small tidbit about his parents - that part of him that refused to let them go.
"On the matter of your brother's illness," came the short reply.
There was a short silence, as Naruto waited for the strange man to continue, but it seemed he was awaiting a response from the blonde instead.
"Why would my parents be consulting you about my brother's illness?" the blonde queried suspiciously, biting down on the distinct feeling that he was being baited.
The sun had set just a little bit further, but the remaining shadows were still so deep that no matter how hard he squinted he just couldn't get a good look at the man's face. Unbidden his mind drifted to the strange incident during the funeral. He hadn't been able to get a good look at the person he'd been following then either.
A feeling of strong curiosity spurred Naruto on as he willed the sun to set faster as he tried to keep the other man talking. There was something about this person that just didn't sit well with him, and not being able to see whom he was speaking to was a big part of it.
"Your brother needs a heart - but you can't find a donor," the strange man said coolly. Matter-of-factually. "And I'm in a position to help you with that."
Naruto's heart skipped a beat at that statement. The fact that the man before him knew so much about their situation meant that he probably had been in contact with he and Sai's adoptive parents after all...but why? He was in no way inclined to forfeit his trust so easily to this stranger, but the mention of Sai's need for a heart transplant had thrown him off his guard just a little. Even the slightest hope of salvation for his brother was worth the risk - especially in the wake of their parents' sudden deaths.
Simply put, Naruto was vulnerable - he knew it, and he was certain that the man standing in front of him knew it too.
And so it was with a slight hint of hesitation that he found himself venturing deeper into this particular rabbit hole, no matter how it unnerved him to do so.
"...How?" he asked finally.
"I can get you one," came the straightforward, emotionless reply - though somewhere deep down Naruto could feel that the other man was smirking ruthlessly, triumphantly, at him for having nipped at the bait, "A heart, that is."
Even Naruto knew that his eyes had widened almost impossibly large at the bold statement, as he nearly stuttered out his hasty reply.
"But...they said you can't jump the line-...How?" he rasped harshly, throat suddenly going dry. He knew he sounded desperate, but there was nothing for it at this point. He'd never been very good at bluffing to begin with.
"There are ways..." the other man trailed suggestively, "But there's also the matter of compensation."
And with just that last statement, the blonde suddenly knew that they were not talking about any legitimate means of obtaining a heart. This was something else.
It was the stuff of sheer urban legend - people being kidnapped, waking up in tubs of ice, illegal organs being sold on the black market - the kind of stories only stupid kids believed in. And yet here he was, being confronted with it on his very own doorstep. Just the idea that his mother and father had been in contact with someone like this had him reeling. He didn't know what to believe anymore.
But yet and still...
"You mean there are... alternatives. Outside the donors list, I mean." It was not a question so much as an accusation. He tried his best to sound nonchalant about it, but even so the insinuation sounded clear even to his own ears. He felt asinine for even asking about it - like the pot calling the kettle black - but he felt even more foolish for the knowledge that he couldn't afford not to be interested. He just couldn't bring himself to ignore even the smallest hope of recovery for Sai. And no matter how foolish he felt for actually taking this seriously in any way, the other man's manner and foreboding aura told the entire story - this guy was the real deal.
Slowly he took a step down, and then another, back towards the intimidating figure. As he drew a bit closer, a little more than two meters away, it became clear that the man was dressed in all black, despite the lingering heat of early autumn, and his hands were tucked harmlessly into his pockets. But the sun still refused to set, and Naruto just could not make out his face, which was unnerving beyond belief.
For his part, the man at the bottom of the walk made a soft sound deep in his throat, somewhere between a short, derisive laugh, and an affirmative noise, before extending one arm in a smooth, passionless motion, until it was outstretched between them. And there, grasped in between two pale, slender fingers, was a simple black business card. Hesitantly, Naruto reached out his own hand and, after a brief moment of deliberation, finally plucked the proffered card from the man's fingers. A slight shudder raced through him as for a moment his own warm fingertips made contact with the stranger's comparatively cool ones, but he brushed it off as nerves.
In the next moment though, he had pulled back to stand warily examining the card. It was nothing flashy by any means - just a plain, though elegantly designed, black card. The front was printed with the letters "S.U." - nothing more. Naruto ran his fingers over the smooth, matte surface, feeling the slight grooves of the lightly engraved, metallic crimson initials. Absently he turned the card over in his hands to find that the back was similarly embossed, but this time with a single phone number in the middle of the card. There was no name, no address, and no other contact information. The bottom corner of the card featured a small symbol printed in the same metallic red - a simplemitsudomoe[*].
The symbol was something he had seen printed on shrine walls and in kamon[*]before, though he had long forgotten what it was meant to stand for...something about heaven and earth.
It figured.
If this guy really was from some kind of black market outfit, which would explain his demeanor, Naruto would have expected nothing less. Cheeks growing a little flushed in a combination of irritation and embarrassment at himself for even taking the damned thing, the blonde bit his lip slightly before his next question.
"How much?" he half murmured, eyes averting themselves from the imposing figure below in mild shame as he spoke, "Hypothetically, I mean."
"5,000,000 Ryo[*]," came the even reply.
"F-...Five million...!" Naruto sputtered audibly as he repeated the man's words.
"Of course that's a discounted offer," the man added icily, a sharp contrast to the content of his words, "Think of it as a sign of my... condolences for your late mother and father."
He wasn't sure why, but somehow the idea that the man in question was toying with his emotions asserted itself quite abruptly in Naruto's mind. The way he'd so casually mentioned the blonde's dead parents and his brother's illness - things that cut deep to Naruto's core in a very visceral and painful fashion - spouting clearly disingenuous terms of sympathy ... It felt very cruel.
Unbidden, Naruto could feel his own unpredictable temper quickly rising up from the pits of his stomach to burn at the inside of his mouth, like bile.
"You bastard. Do you get off on people's suffering or something?" he bit out acridly, before he even knew what he was saying, "You think it's funny?"
"Hn."
It was just a short expulsion of breath through the other man's nose, but it was enough to send Naruto barreling over the edge of self-restraint. He felt his hands clench into fists at his sides. If it weren't for the thought that today was supposed to be a day of mourning, Naruto really felt he might have lunged down and taken the irreverent man by the throat.
Instead he settled for angry words.
"As if my parents would ever deal with a scummy prick like you!" he growled dangerously, now positively glaring at the other man, "Now fuck off, before I call the cops!"
This outburst actually earned him another soft sound of sadistic amusement that had Naruto's insides blazing with rage. If he ever saw this guy again, he might actually resort to physical violence.
It was just then that the last rays of the sun's light chose to finally disappear under the horizon, leaving them both in absolute shadow. It was also at this exact moment that the infuriating man at the bottom of the walkway chose to nonchalantly turn and make his leave, effectively robbing Naruto of his chance to make out just what the other looked like. Before the blonde's pupils had time to even think about adjusting to the transition in lighting, the man's back was to him as he retreated down the sidewalk.
That did not however, stop the stranger from calling out a last farewell over his shoulder.
"They say it comes in threes you know," that low, inexplicably well carrying voice said cryptically, "I'll be seeing you soon, Uzumaki Naruto."
If it had been any other day, the blonde might have stormed down the long walk, whirled the other man around and gotten a good look at the object of his disgust before smashing his fist into that contemptible face. As it was he just bristled for a few moments in barely contained rage, before sagging bonelessly against his front door the moment the other male was out of sight, as all of the grief and sheer weariness of the week suddenly caught up to him. It was like he deflated the instant his anger dissipated enough to be replaced by stronger, more raw emotions.
Eyes suddenly burning, Naruto blinked several times to keep at bay the tears that had been threatening to overcome him all that week, and he knew that it wasn't just the same instinctual sadness that he had felt at the knowledge that his parents were gone. It was something different.
A part of him asserted firmly that it had something to do with the strange man who had seen fit to confront him in front of his house just moments ago - but neither the stance nor the voice of the other male rang any bells at all. All he could assume was that it had something to do with the way the other had callously scoffed at his grief, as if to invalidate his emotions - as if he had some sort of superior insight into what Naruto was feeling and had deemed those emotions to be unnecessary - contemptible even.
As if he knew anything at all about how Naruto should be taking the death of his parents.
"Asshole," Naruto grumbled to himself softly as he turned around and fidgeted angrily with lock and key to his front door.
Absently he swiped the back of his unoccupied hand across his eyes and sniffed away a few more threatening tears, still thoroughly slumped against the doorjamb. When finally the lock gave way he shoved his way inside, kicking off his shoes at the door before he stepped up into the hallway and made a bee-line for the living room. At a time like this he really wanted to call Sai at the hospital and tell him what had just happened, but he knew that he couldn't tell his brother about this. It would only serve to upset the other boy and make him feel guilty about his condition - the last thing Naruto wanted to do to his frail brother after they had just finally made up.
And if he was completely honest with himself, some deep, dark portion of his heart whispered, he was too afraid to speak with his brother right now - afraid that Sai would ask him what he'd done with the card. Hot tears of shame and self loathing prickled at the edges of Naruto's vision as his trembling fingers hesitantly brushed against the small rectangle of card-stock that he'd unthinkingly shoved into the pocket of his jacket.
His fingertips retracted immediately, as though burned.
He felt like he wanted to break something - perhaps himself - but he was already so broken inside at the moment.
So instead he opted for collapsing in a heap onto the living room sofa, quietly staring at the ceiling as he listened to the sound of his own ragged breathing, until eventually his breaths grew shallow in his own ears, and he was quietly ushered off into his dreams.

Excessively Long
Author's Notes:
In case you were wondering, this fic takes place in a country that, like the setting of the Naruto series, is modeled strongly after both ancient and modern day Japan in terms of its language, customs, and cultural background. Since this is a sci-fi AU, there will also be a lot of elements that don't appear in real life orin the original manga series. I'll try to briefly explain anything that might be confusing to readers whenever they appear in a chapter.
-Although he was adopted, Naruto kept his own surname. Also, the syllable "U" comes toward the beginning of the Japanese alphabet. Thus the name Uzumaki is near the top of alphabetical lists.
-In case anyone is confused by what was going on with the funeral, I kept a little closer to Japanese tradition. Naruto's religious denomination isn't mentioned because he doesn't really have one per se, but in general in Japan we have Buddhist funerals - thus the monks. I think I also referenced Naruto and Sai having to go to a crematorium to choose which bones they wanted turned to ash. This is another tradition that I borrowed for the sake of realism. After the preliminary cremation, family members go to select the bones left behind. We pick them two people at a time, using two large pairs of chopsticks, and those bones are in turn made into ashes and returned to the family. This is also the reason why we never pass food to one another between chopsticks. +_+;;;
Hokoku = Fire Country – In this AU, instead of an entire country, it's just a large prefecture in the country where Naruto lives. (Think of it kind of like Shikoku prefecture...)
Sakoku = Sand Country – Like Fire Country, it's another prefecture, but slightly more metropolitan, and has a world class teaching hospital.
Nii-san = Elder Brother – Sai and Naruto are around the same age, but Naruto is slightly older for the purposes of this story.
Sensei = Doctor, Professor - Iruka is Naruto's family doctor, but really fills the role of more of a family friend and confidant to Naruto. Hence them calling one another by their first names.
mitsudomoe = the proper name for the three black swirls (tomoe) that form the Sharingan. In modern day it still appears often in shrines, company logos, and as part ofkamon.
kamon = symbols that represent a particular family. Think of the different seals used to represent families in the Naruto series.
Ryo = the currency of the Naruto universe. It's equal to about 10 yen. The initial price that Naruto is given is 5 million ryo, which would amount to millions of yen, or hundreds of thousands of US dollars...! (Sasuke, you greedy bitch...)
"It comes and goes in threes." - Just an old saying that death , among other unlucky things, comes and goes in threes. I think the original meaning is that when one unfortunate thing happens, two more are sure to follow, each being successively worse than the last. It fit the theme of threes that I'm weaving into the fic, so I threw it in there. *shrugs*
Teaser notes:
Yeah, so this is an pretty long teaser. I'm really itching to put this one out for real, since I already have quite a bit of it written and its got all the kinks that I enjoy (*drools*). This might be next on my list after "Z" and "Clockwork". Honestly, maybe the only reason I'm not actively working on it is because I would feel kind of irresponsible putting out another WIP when I have so much on my plate already. D'X But I couldn't resist at least throwing the teaser out there to get an idea of whether people would care to read it or not in the future.
With that said, this is supposed to be a fic full of suspense, twists and turns, betrayals, reversals, et cetera just like the original novel. The original was on one of my favorite Japanese BL novel sites, but the website and author have since disappeared into the aether without the story ever being finished. I sat on the idea of re-imagining the awesome plot into fan-fiction, and I was actually totally thinking of turning it into a Kingdom Hearts II fic (my first one!) since it seemed to fit so well, but somehow it just morphed into another SasuNaru romance, as so many of my ideas are apt to do. -_-;;;
The excerpt I used for this teaser is actually a long flashback that takes place a little ways into the story. The whole thing has a lot of these scenes where in trying to piece together how he ended up fucked (up) and lying in a ditch with amnesia on his twentieth birthday, Naruto slowly begins having these confusing flashbacks to things that occurred shortly before said event.
Among other things, this fic includes:
- Sai-Naru-Saku-Sai undertones that are kind of important to the plot, some SaiNaru
- hard-boiled detectives!Kakashi and Asuma
- organized crime, illegal organ trading
- tragic romance
-sci-fi elements
- copious amounts of sasunaru kink and sex (think "compensation")
There's none of it here, but the sci-fi element comes in some time after Naruto begins to figure out who and what he and Sasuke are, and why Sasuke is so interested in him. I wanted to post more, but I had to stop to avoid spoiling the plot (and to keep it from getting explicit e_e;;). Hell, I already feel like I've given away too much already...but there's still so much more. X3
And yes, I know that Sai seems OOC, but...well, you'll see if/when I get to post the rest.
With all that said, I would appreciate any thoughts, comments, etc from anyone who cared to make it all the way through this mini-monster of a teaser. ('v');;;
Thanks for reading!
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