StarsOfYaoi: hi, Naruto fandom! I am SOY:) I used to have another account, but I had so many on–going fics in this one that I felt like people would kill me if I posted a new one in another fandom… but since I wanted to write this and I am much into Naruto lately… I created this account. Don’t tell the BeyBlade readers this!

Note: I will try to keep everyone IC. The last thing I want, is to ruin everything with OOCness.

Takes place after Sasuke leaves Konoha for Orochimaru. And, in this fic Itachi really did kill his clan.

I hope you enjoy :)

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Rating: M

Summary: Kyuubi’s secret out. Akatsuki attacking. Fighting for strength, and falling for your ex–best friend’s older brother. Maybe Naruto will have to deal with more than requested…

Warnings: yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food.

Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

“Talking”

‘Thinking’

–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–

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Winter Release

Chapter 01: Reality Strikes

Silence.

There was a thick silence, and Naruto liked it.

Maybe it was because of the snow, white and fluffy, that was falling from the grey clouded sky, almost softening and soothing all the noise, or maybe it was because at this hour of the night, no one was around, but Naruto felt finally able to relax.

His blue eyes flickered above the houses of Konohagakure, taking in how beautiful the village looked from above the Hokage Mountain, on top of the Fourth’s head.

He admired the sight not caring about the cold, blind to everything but the beauty of his village. White covered the rooftops and the streets, the trees and the mountains around him, and it covered even the faces carved in the stone under his feet, making them unrecognizable.

He loved it.

Tying the scarf tighter around his neck to prevent the cold from making him freeze (he’d know for a long time now that being the vessel of a Fire demon meant he would be affected by the cold more than any normal person), he rubbed his palms together to warm his hands up, his eyes fixed on the beautiful sight below him.

In moments like these, he could understand why people like Sandaime and Yondaime gave up their life to protect the village.

Feeling his stomach twist painfully he was reminded that no one allowed him to leave his bed, and slowly he made his way down the mountain, returning to the hospital with slow and soft steps, soothed by the snow creaking under his weight.

Almost two months had passed ever since he’d returned from the ‘let’s rescue Sasuke’ mission, which turned into a sheer fiasco, having four of the five involved returning almost dead, with no Sasuke.

Although Shikamaru blamed it all on himself, bravely accepting the entire fault for the unsuccessful mission, no one really blamed him. Naruto himself knew it was not his fault, and he’d supported his friend as much as he could, especially when he’d known the others were fine.

Someone blamed him, though.

Sakura.

Sakura did not take well the fact that Sasuke was not back when Naruto returned. Not caring for the group of five that came back barely alive, she arrived and after realizing Naruto failed his promise, she’d blamed it all on him.

Her voice was still in his mind, taunting him, accusing him –the only thing she said to him… after that she never spoke to him again, and two months later, now, she still wasn’t looking at him.

He knew he shouldn’t feel this bad, after all he could understand her feelings and her rage maybe too well, but still, it hurt to hear her curse against him.

“You couldn’t take him back even when you promised, Naruto! I trusted you, and you couldn’t even take Sasuke–kun back! How could you, Naruto? You’re not worthy to be a ninja anymore!”

His heart felt like it had been crushed under a strong grip, and he shook away the thoughts from his mind. This was not the time for brooding in his misery. He couldn’t even tell Sakura that Sasuke tried to kill him, because that would have hurt her too much, and he cared for her deeply even if his heart did not warm up anymore when she was near him.

He didn’t love her anymore, having realized now she was only his friend.

She had been his friend. Now really, he didn’t know.

The only thing that comforted him at the moment was that the Ero–Sennin said he would train him. The moment his wounds were healed completely, they would leave, leave so he could become strong to take Sasuke back where he belonged… to Konoha.

Because opposite of him, no matter what he did and maybe would do in the future, Sasuke was still loved. He was the last Uchiha. The survivor, the worshipped…

The village still admired him.

He didn’t know what his four friends (the ones that were with him) thought about the Uchiha after their failed rescue mission, but he knew well enough that the village, despite knowing he was now a missing–nin, would be glad to have him back.

He still was an Uchiha, after all. They would forgive him everything… but after all, no one outside of the few concerned was aware of the circumstances.

Only three people knew why Sasuke left, these three being Jiraiya, Tsunade and Naruto himself –Tsunade explained it to him after he woke up, because Naruto was feeling so depressed he wouldn’t even recover.

Naruto felt responsible, because he let his best friend run away in order to get the power he desired… to kill his brother.

The blond knew that if he’d let Sasuke kill him, then he wouldn’t have needed to go to Orochimaru. He would have returned to the village with the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Besides, no one would have really missed Naruto, except maybe Iruka–sensei and Tsunade. But he was not one to linger in self–pity, so these thoughts vanished in the depths of his mind.

Feeling the cold snow fall on his still body –he had stopped in the middle of the street as his thoughts turned again on Sasuke– Naruto snapped out from his musings and shook his head, wondering why he hadn’t let the raven haired boy kill him.

Now his dream of becoming Hokage felt far and unreachable to him.

“Naruto?”

He looked at his right in a flash, and was surprised to see Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, Hinata, Shino and Kiba all looking at him, covered up with coats and scarves to fight off the cold and the snow. They were all looking at him, surprise clear on their faces –or on the part of their faces that was not covered by clothing.

“G… guys? What are you doing here at this time?” for once he forgot to smile broadly, for once he forgot to hide his pain, to act like he usually did, and just stared.

At the moment he felt too drained to even smile.

All the teens were aware of the strange mood lingering on the blond and felt something pool in the pit of their stomach seeing him so calm and so… out of character. This Naruto, the Naruto that came back from the rescue mission, was different. Something changed, and they felt they needed to react against this change.

They were his friends, and would never let him suffer.

“We were coming to you… the moment we saw it was snowing we decided to group together and have some free time… some of us were sick of being in hospital after all,” Kiba smirked, but somehow he looked incomplete without Akamaru on his head, since the dog was still recovering.

Naruto blinked.

They were… coming for him?

Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets, “how troublesome, we just wanted to stick together, that’s all” he shrugged and looked away.

Hinata blushed as she smiled shyly at the blond, fidgeting and curling her fingers as she stepped towards him, “ah… er… Naruto–kun… if you… want to just… come with us… that would be great!” her smile turned slightly wider.

Naruto blinked, feeling a strong ache in his chest, then a smile flashed on his face as he felt the warmth spreading from the group to him; he’d missed this sensation… “Of course! Let’s have a snowball fight!”

“Yes! Your flame of youth is still burning!” Lee yowled, his mouth soon covered by Neji and Kiba’s hands, “shut up Lee, we don’t want anyone to wake and see us here, especially since some of us should be still in their hospital rooms,” Neji hissed.

“How troublesome” Shikamaru muttered with a raised eyebrow.

But all of them turned and moved to a larger space, preparing themselves for the play.

Shino simply followed, and Chouji resumed eating his potatoes.

……………………………………………

Tsunade was deep asleep, with her head on the desk, when a shadowed figure appeared inside the office with a soft sound.

Her eyes snapped open, feeling the chakra signature, ready to fight, but then, she recognized it and relaxed lightly, looking at him with confusion.

“What are you doing here, Usagi?” she asked the masked ANBU, the one with the mask of a rabbit.

The figure bowed slightly to her, before stepping forwards.

“There are intruders around Konoha, Hokage–sama,” he said, his voice deep and lined with worry. “Two of them. They don’t seem like they want to attack, but when questioned they refused to speak and walked away”.

Tsunade frowned, biting her lip in confusion.

What were doing two visitors this late, and why did they refuse to speak? Were they attackers? If so, why hadn’t they attacked the ANBU?

She stood up, “can you describe me the two of them?”

The Usagi masked ANBU nodded, “though I couldn’t see their faces, one of them is tall and has something strapped on his back, that looks like a huge sword, and the other is a little shorter and he kept his face hidden”.

Nothing in the description hit Tsunade’s attention, nor she could remember if she had seen the two before, but what the ANBU said right after caused her to freeze.

“And they were both wearing the same cloak, black with red clouds on it”.

Tsunade’s eyes widened as she turned to the ANBU, “go to Jiraiya and tell him to go to the hospital, and then go call Kakashi and Gai”.

The ANBU could only nod in confusion before disappearing, and Tsunade bit her lip worriedly. Jiraiya had said… Jiraiya had said that Akatsuki would not come for Naruto until some years, why were they here now?

‘Naruto, please, be safe,’ she thought as she performed some hand seals, disappearing as well to go to the gates.

……………………………………………

Naruto chuckled as he hit Kiba square on the face with a snowball, receiving a few curses in reply and having to start running, because he was being chased by the angry Inuzuka teen.

It had been a long time since he could relax and laugh like this, especially with his friends.

It felt… good.

He was so deep into his thoughts that he didn’t feel the chakra signature approaching, and when a figure appeared before him he couldn’t stop and the two collided. The impact sent Naruto on the snow, whilst the other figure stepped back in order not to fall down as well.

The blond lifted his head up to see what he fell against, and saw it was an ANBU member, one with the mask of a Usagi, all dressed in white and black.

The figure looked imposing and Naruto backed away, standing up again, his friends forgotten as he scratched the back of his head.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to bump on you,” he laughed sheepishly.

The masked ANBU stared down at the Kyuubi vessel, and even if his face was hidden, his eyes narrowed in disgust and rage. Hatred flashed on his features at the sight of the ‘demon child’, and his aura darkened enough that Naruto himself noticed.

The other teens stopped playing and turned, seeing Naruto stand before an ANBU member; something was wrong, but none of them could understand what, and why the Usagi was emanating such a dark aura.

The ANBU was old enough to have been present at the fight between the Yondaime and Kyuubi, and had been skilled enough to come back alive, but that fight had been carved into his mind forever, because that dreaded day he lost his best friend and lover in the fight.

And now, he had to see the demon –that had not been killed but instead sealed into a newborn baby– stand before his eyes. The very demon that killed his dear Karia, that caused so many causalities to the village, that killed the Yondaime himself.

The demon that now he had to see every day, walking through the village, smiling, and the man knew that it was just an act, and that soon the demon would strike again.

Why the Hokage, all of them, had wanted to protect that demon? Keeping him in the village was only signing down the destruction of all their lives.

He was nothing but a demon, a monster!

He’d been good enough not to be near the demon at all in the last thirteen years, knowing he would kill him if he were to be near enough. But having the filthy being now touch him, and look at him saying he was sorry was enough to have all his rationality vanish.

He didn’t care if the Sandaime had ordered the village and the shinobi not to speak aloud of the demon; he didn’t care if there were people who didn’t knew of the secret a few feet away from him.

He just wanted the demon to pay, to die.

“How can you even think about touching me, you filthy monster!” he hissed, the hatred and the disgust in his voice making Naruto flinch.

Blue eyes panicked as he saw that the one he’d bumped onto was one of the many that hated him. The happiness of seconds before was gone as everything went silent again, but this time the silence was uncomfortable and tense, and he was painfully aware of the shocked stares of his friends behind him.

They were all stunned to hear a collected ANBU speak this way of their friend, and they couldn’t understand why he reacted this way only because Naruto bumped against him.

“I…” Naruto gasped when he felt the strong fingers of the man curl around his neck.

“What are you doing! Let him go! What did he do to you!” Kiba and Lee stepped forwards, snapping away from their shock enough to try and rescue their friend.

The ANBU’s acting was distressing.

“What… what did he do to me?” the ANBU turned his covered face towards them, his grip on Naruto’s neck tightening as the blond fought to free himself from him.

Naruto had hard time breathing. “Gh…” he groaned out, trying to pull away the hands that were choking him; but he couldn’t, the grip was too strong.

“He killed my love, he killed so many people of this village! How could Sandaime protect him? How could he put such a degrading and disgusting monster right in the village he tried to destroy!”

“Let… let Naruto–kun go!” Hinata cried, worry and astonishment curling in her stomach.

Naruto–kun?

The man’s grip around Naruto’s neck loosened and the blond fell on the snow covered ground again, coughing hard, his hands covering protectively his neck as he breathed, air filling his lungs again.

‘Such an endearing suffix, directed at this filthy being! He fooled all our children, he fooled the Sandaime and even the Godaime! He must be killed! To get the world rid of his presence!’

“You know nothing of this monster!” the ANBU’s voice was chilling cold as he turned to the teens, that now had advanced towards Naruto and the man to protect their friend from the insane jounin. “He fooled you all, made you think he was harmless! But he’s a monster!”

“Watch what you are saying,” Neji calmly stated. “Naruto is our friend, and by no means he’s a demon or a monster, and he surely did not kill anyone”.

Naruto stood up again, panting, but feeling panic slowly creep in his chest as the man laughed out hard and roughly.

“He killed so many people, and yet, he fooled you into befriending him… but I can see beneath the surface, I can see he’s waiting to strike and kill again, and again, because his lust for blood will not be satisfied!”

Naruto looked back and forth from his friends to the man, stepping forwards, deciding he should just try to distract the ANBU so he would not say anything he shouldn’t, “look, I am sorry, I didn’t want to bump…”

“Sorry! A demon can’t be sorry! You killed my love, it was you! How can you think any of us will be able to forgive you for destroying the village!” the man again stared at Naruto, the mask hiding his hatred filled eyes and his grimace. “You deserve death! The Uchiha heir deserved to be still here, whilst you deserve to die!”

Naruto could feel the others gasp in shock behind him, but he couldn’t turn to look at them.

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t kill anyone,” he mumbled to the man. “Please, believe me, I didn’t–”

A strong punch on his jaw caused him to fly on the ground, stopping his speech. Naruto felt someone approach with a gasp, but the man positioned himself between him and his friends; he stood up shakily, grimacing for the pain in his jaw, but quickly, it vanished.

“See? He can heal himself so fast, he can’t be human!” the man said, pointing towards Naruto, who grimaced, feeling the jaw snap back in its place. “For how much you could stab him, he will still heal back! He must be killed! And you, kids, you don’t even know who he is, and the pain and the grief he caused thirteen years ago!”

“But he wasn’t even born thirteen years ago!” Kiba glared, now completely sure the man had lost it. “You are insane!”

The man laughed again, but this time the laugh was creepy and sent shudders through all the teens’ backs.

“Oh, insane?” in a flash he’d grabbed Naruto again, forcing him on the floor by twisting his arm behind his back, causing a sharp pain and a cry out of his lips.

“Naruto!” the teens cried out.

“Naruto–kun!” cried out Hinata, paling.

“Look here! Look how insane I am, look at the truth!” the man grabbed Naruto’s coat and forced it open, and then he lifted his shirt, revealing his belly, flaring a chakra wave on it.

Under the shocked stares of the teens, something appeared on Naruto’s belly, a delicate spiral that sneaked through his lower abdomen in a circular motion, surrounded by kanji and symbols.

Neji and Hinata gasped, having recognized the pattern as a strong binding seal.

“What… what’s that!” Kiba growled.

“No! Let me go!” Naruto started struggling, but was rewarded by another twist of his arm, and he crouched in pain, still exposed to the stares of his friends.

“I will tell you, kids, so you will know better than to befriend a monster,” a smirk made its way on the man’s face, and even if they couldn’t see it under the Usagi mask, by the tone of his voice they were aware of it.

“No! Please no!” Naruto begged, now panicking.

He was going to tell them, and they would reject him like the rest of the village! They would hate him! They would be disgusted by him like everyone else was!

The man laughed and left Naruto go, and the boy backed away from him but also from his friends, eyes wide, fear clear in the blue depths.

“This monster is the Nine Tailed Fox Demon, that was sealed inside him thirteen years ago by Yondaime Hokage!” the ANBU laughed hard, but his laugh was bitter and filled with hatred. “Sandaime formed a law to prevent us from telling you, because this way he could have a ‘normal childhood’ but he’s not human! He deceived all of you!”

Naruto’s heart stopped.

Everything seemed to slow down, as if it was far away from him whilst he stood up, eyes wide, the only sound his heart beating against his chest, as if pleading to be let out.

They knew.

Ocean eyes turned to his friends, who were looking at him in shock, asking with their eyes if the man was saying the truth.

He saw them staring, and he couldn’t stand it, he knew they would end up hating him, fearing him, or the worst, pitying him.

He didn’t want that, he didn’t want them to hate him, they were his only friends! He lost Sasuke because he was not strong enough, and now he was loosing them because of what was sealed inside of him.

He couldn’t… couldn’t…

So he turned and ran.

Away.

As far as he could, hot tears falling from his eyes, freezing on his cheeks under the cold, melting with the snowflakes against his skin.

……………………………………………

They knew. They knew. They knew.

The words were spinning in his mind, confusing him, hurting him. Over and over again, every time sending twinges in his chest.

They knew.

They knew.

‘No… no… no!’

He kept on running, to where he didn’t know, but away from the village, away from the surely disgusted faces of his friends, away from the hatred.

He couldn’t stand it.

The moment he had relaxed down, even if only a bit, all his life shattered.

He stumbled on the fresh snow, crying hard as he lifted up again, not caring if he was now cold and wet from the snow, not caring at all. He wanted just to run away.

How could he be so blind to everything? How could he!

He kept running, not aware he left the village and entered the forest, the shadows of the trees looming over him almost menacingly, but he didn’t care.

What he really feared was rejection, and he couldn’t stand it. Not now.

Never.

That’s when he bumped again against something.

He fell on the snow covered ground without a sound, brushing away the frozen tears from his face, noticing that the snow was falling even more now, and it was cold.

But it was colder inside.

Burning blue eyes lifted up, Naruto feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, but when he tried to see who was above him, the snow prevented him from seeing much.

He brushed his eyes again, standing up, thinking that probably it was just a tree, but then he noticed something waving in the cold wind, and frowned, wiping away completely all the tears.

And then, he recognized him.

Burning crimson eyes, so similar to Sasuke’s when he used the Sharingan, but colder and emotionless like Sasuke’s had never been. Dark black hair, tied up behind the head, a sort of hat covering them, a hitai–ate of Konohagakure with a slash that cut the Leaf symbol in half horizontally, and a long, black thick cloak with a pattern of red clouds on it.

Naruto gulped, frightened as he stared deeply in the burning hells that were the crimson eyes. The very person he was sure he would not meet for the next three years was right in front of him, staring down with an emotionless face.

The one that Sasuke wanted to kill so badly he deserted the village and tried to kill his best friend.

Uchiha, Itachi.

Akatsuki was here.

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StarsOfYaoi: well? Do you like the first chapter? I hope yes, and please, leave a review to tell me what you think!