A/N: I can't write 'The Dark Side of the Moon'. I need to write this thing. XD SO ENJOY THE FIRST CHAPTER OF: Demon's World.
Official sequeal to My Demons.
Disclaimer: Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Lighting crashed outside, and Sasuke jerked awake, eyes opened as he stared at the wall opposite of him. Thunder rumbled and he sat up, looking out the window with wide, onyx eyes, before he crawled over the mess of twisted blankets on his bed to look at the foot, looking down on the floor to see a shadow curled up there.
"Aniki, come up here if you're going to sleep…" he trailed off as lightening lighted the room and all he saw was a pile of clothes. He sat back on the bed, eyes looking blank at the wall as the rain continued to pour down. Itachi wasn't sleeping there after all. He laughed bitterly; how could he be? That was physically impossible.
Especially since he was dead.
One Year Later
They crouched in the alleyway, backs pressed against the brick walls, shadows hiding facial features. They were all bunched together in a little group; the one nearest to the corner of the wall supposedly the leader. Placing a hand to his ear where a hidden earpiece rested nestled tightly. A mike was clipped to his shirt, and he looked at the others briefly, before he started to speak. "This is Chidori; I'm with the Special Ops group. Our contact is just a few feet from us."
He stopped speaking, dark onyx eyes looking at the lone figure contemplating, before a voice responded in the speaker in his ear.
'What does he look like Chidori?' His familiar voice spoke softly in his ear and Chidori frowned, looking at the contact again.
The man was tall, with dark amber eyes and red hair, close to the 2nd in command's colour. "Red hair, brown eyes, tall, pale; he's looking around as if waiting for someone."
'…Go up to him quietly, ask his alias. If he responds with our contact's name, than we've got the real guy and not a decoy.'
"Got it." He pulled his hand away, looking at the people with him; the Special Ops. A group of the best members of Bijuu Gang sent on mission-like trips where they dealt with spies from the enemy lines. Ever since the war a year ago, things have been tighter knit in gangs; especially with the death of Sharingan Itachi Uchiha and Manda Orochimaru Goizamu.
"Byakugen, Shadow, Kikai, Butterfly, Mutt," he said, each member looking up at him as their alias was called. "We're to approach the target and see if it's who we're looking for. If not we're to immediately move out and report back to HQ." They all nodded, all of them going to the corner. Chidori nodded, and they all followed him out towards the man standing there, arms crossed.
"There you are!" The man said, frowning. "Where the hell—"
"Your alias," the dark haired boy interrupted. "We need that before we speak any more."
"Right," the man said, frowning grimly, before he sighed, arms dropping to his side. "Red Desert, spy to Akatsuki for the Bijuu Gang; leader's name is unknown." The dark haired boy smirked, and the red head seemed to relax.
"Hey Sasori, good to see you."
"Same to you, brat." Sasori Sabaku said, ruffling up the oddly styled black hair. "So anyway, what took you guys?" A pale boy with dark brown hair and silver eyes answered.
"We…Got lost." Silence fell over the group, before Sasori snorted. "Shut up,"
"Sorry, sorry," Sasori sighed, before he turned serious. "Back to the business at hand; we all have a problem. I can't be the spy for Bijuu anymore."
"Why not?" A large boy with messy brown hair and black eyes asked eyes wide. Sasori smiled apologetically, before he closed his eyes.
"The Akatsuki is planning a revolution. The first one in 10 years. I don't want to be caught up in the middle of it all, so I'm coming over to you guys; unless you can find an idiot who would willingly be your spy, I don't think you're going to be getting anymore inside information about them." The younger boys all swore under their breath, Chidori looking grim. "I'm sorry, guys; this is all going down to the dogs."
"Its fine, Red Desert." He muttered, before he pressed a hand to his ear again, activating the earpiece and mike at his shirt. "We have a situation; Red Desert is going to be coming with us back to HQ. We'll head over there now via the underground. We'll see you in fifteen." He removed his hand, looking at the others.
"Let's get moving."
"Welcome back," a pink haired girl smiled, looking at the boys as they came into the living room, frowning when the dark haired boy brushed past her, going over directly to the blonde sitting on the couch. She shook her head, turning over to Sasori, looking surprised. "Sasori! Hey, what's the matter?"
"You'll find out in a second." He said, smiling. "You look well, Sakura."
"Thanks; same to you." She smiled, before she walked over to the blonde and raven head, sitting on the arm of a chair, where the dark brown haired boy sat, taking her hand quietly.
"So, Chidori, what did you find out?" The blonde asked, leaning back leisurely in his seat. The dark boy sat beside him, feet curled up to cushion his seat, hands folded in his lap.
"Apparently, Akatsuki is planning a revolution." He said; everyone seemed to freeze in their seats. "Red Desert has more information."
"Sasori?" The blonde turned to him, eyebrow raised.
"After Manda and Sharingan died in the war last year, they felt as if anything that had been blocking them has been pushed out of their path; except, of course, for Kyuubi." The blonde frowned darkly at that. "And Chidori, but they didn't speak much on him. They want to get rid of you guys so that they can be the top gang, and they can own all of the territory."
"Because, if we look deep down into the basics of gangs, it's all about the territory." A dark brown haired boy said, his grey eyes looking lazily at Sasori. The red head nodded, and Shikamaru Nara sighed, eyes closing. "What do you take on this, Neji?"
The dark brown haired boy near Sakura, Neji Hyuuga, looked up at his name, before he frowned in thought. "It's an interesting concept, but much too simplistic to be their only plan. Did you get any other information, Sasori?" Sasori shook his head, and the Hyuuga sighed. "Then we have some loose ends to tie up."
"Kisame Hoshigaki would be a good source; he was Sharingan's closest friend in Akatsuki…" He trailed off as he saw the dark haired boy stiffen, before he frowned, looking away. "He wouldn't mind helping; Kisame's prone to trouble like that. Before I show that I've left them, I can get him to become the contact."
"Is he an idiot enough?" The blonde leader asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah; he's one of our biggest idiots." Sasori said, laughing. Everyone else smiled, even the brooding boy on the couch, before the blonde closed his eyes.
"Alright…That's it for everything?" He opened an eye, seeing everyone nod, before he smirked, pulling the dark boy onto his lap, arms around his waist. "Then we can relax…" He kissed the boy's neck softly, and everyone smiled at the endearing sight as the dark haired boy's eyes closed softly.
"Right Sasuke Uchiha?" Sasuke's smirk was a nice thing to see as he opened his eyes, looking back at Naruto Uzumaki with soft eyes.
"I suppose so, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto grinned, helping Sasuke get more comfortable in his lap, before a silver haired man's head poked in, a lazy blue eye looking at them quietly; his other eye covered by a blue bandage, the bottom half of his face covered by a mask. Sasuke looked at him with a lazy look that could rival Shikamaru's, raising a hand in a half wave. "Hey Kakashi,"
Kakashi Hatake smiled, his eye crinkling at the corner as he waved, walking in wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Sasuke wore a black turtleneck with no sleeves and a pair of black jeans with a chain on them, Naruto wearing a black long sleeved shirt over under an orange short sleeved button up shirt, and dark blue jeans. The blonde's caretaker then looked at everyone with questioning eyes.
"Who's thirsty?" Everyone's hands rose up and he smiled, looking over at Sasori who sighed and stood up to help the older man, both leaving for the kitchen.
"So how was your summer?" Naruto asked Sasuke, chin resting on his shoulder as everyone fell into their own conversations, Sakura and Neji speaking with the blonde spy Flirt, also known as Ino Yamanaka. Kikai, also known as Shino Aburame was speaking with Mutt, or Kiba Inuzuka and Green Beast, also known as Rock Lee.
"It was…Uneventful." Sasuke mumbled, eyes closed. "I celebrated a few birthdays, visited the family grave…" he trailed off, looking to the side. "Masashi worked me to the bone at the book store."
"Didn't Shino join you there?"
"Yeah; he takes care of putting the books on the shelves while I get signings, authors to come down to promote their books and handle the cash and phone." Naruto nodded, listening to Sasuke say everything almost monotone. There was little emotion in his voice nowadays; he worried it was because the Uchiha lived alone, but whenever he offered his boyfriend the extra room or bed space in their home, Sasuke would always refuse, saying that he wanted to stay in the apartment.
He said he felt Itachi's presence there at times.
Kakashi and Sasori then walked back out, both holding a tray filled with an assortment of pop cans, walking around the groups of teenagers. Each teen grabbed a different drink, all of them opening their pops at different times, making the strange collection of fizzing noise that usually occurred when this happened. Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes as he sipped his 7 Up© quietly, Naruto chugging a Pepsi© in almost three gulps.
"What about your summer?" Sasuke asked, looking over to the blonde. Naruto smiled, shrugging lightly as he looked over to where Kakashi sat talking quietly with Sasori about something.
"Not too exciting." He said, shrugging. "Kakashi and I went out to the deeper slums of the city to go and visit some friends of Kakashi's."
"Kakashi has friends?" Sasuke remarked sarcastically. Naruto laughed, shaking his head at the raven head in his lap.
"Surprising, I know. But it's true." He then sighed, eyes closing. "School's starting tomorrow."
"Yeah, I know." Sasuke said softly, looking at the couch seat, staring at the faded pattern. "Nervous?"
"No; it's my last year. What's there to be nervous about? It's like the easiest year. That's what Temari said."
"She's going to college, right?"
"She's taking a year off before she does anything; she wants to get a job to earn some cash for the rent and shit." Sasuke nodded, finishing his pop and putting his can on the ground next to Naruto's. The blonde's arms then wrapped around Sasuke's waist again, and Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. "You nervous?"
"No…" Sasuke mumbled softly, sighing quietly. "It'll just be weird without Aniki driving me."
Naruto sighed, looking at the Uchiha as he stared at everyone talking and laughing amongst themselves, almost no cares in the world.
"Yeah…"
Sasuke opened the door to the apartment quietly, closing it and locking it as soon as he stepped in. He slipped off his shoes, placing the key on the key hook on the wall as he took off his coat. He threw it on the back of a kitchen chair, walking into the kitchen area and opening the fridge, looking to see what there was to eat. He saw that the shelves were almost empty, and sighed; he'd have to buy his lunch at the caf tomorrow. He picked up the phone, and dialled a familiar number, listening to the ring tone dully before someone answered.
'Hello, Pizza Hut©; how may we be of service?'
"I would like a medium cheese pizza with pepperoni and mushroom please."
'Would you like any sides?'
"A bottle of Pepsi© and some spicy chicken wings."
'Alright, that'll come to a total of $15.99. Will that be cash or credit card, sir?'
"Cash," Sasuke muttered, walking to the money jar that Itachi had been filling up last year with bills whenever he got the spare dollar. 'In case of emergency pizza orders!' He had always exclaimed.
'Alright, sir! We'll need your address.'
"115 Konoha St, apartment 27. Name's Uchiha; spelt U-C-H-I-H-A."
'Alright, thank you for ordering at Pizza Hut; have a good night.'
"You too," Sasuke hung up after the man on the other line had, putting the phone in the cradle as he got the amount needed. He placed the money on the kitchen table so he knew where it was when the food was delivered, before he fell onto the couch upside down, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. He looked at the weather channel, confirming that it was going to be a warm day tomorrow so he could get away with a light coat, before he started channel surfing.
When the blood rushing to his head was finally affecting his eyes, the door downstairs buzzed, and he flipped over. Walking to the door, he buzzed the delivery person in, before stepping back, going to the kitchen table and grabbing the money. He double checked the amount, before he heard the knock on his door. He walked to the door, opening it and looking at the man standing there.
He nodded, taking the food from the man and placing it on the kitchen, before he gave the man his money. He took the change quietly, wishing the man a good night before he closed the door quietly, locking it. He then went to his food, opening it to check his order, and nodded.
"Itadakimasu," he said quietly, before placing a slice of pizza on his plate, going over to the cupboard and grabbing a glass to pour the Pepsi© in.
The channel the TV was on broke to a scene with rain, and Sasuke glared at the TV, grabbing the remote. "Stupid pathetic fallacy." He muttered.
He turned the TV off.
The next day started off with the alarm clock ringing in his ears. He groaned, shoving his head under the pillow as he ignored the annoying drone of the clock. He was about to fall back asleep when the door suddenly crashed open, the alarm clock slammed to sleep, and his blankets thrown off roughly. The blonde whined, reaching out blindly for his blanket, and a tired, pissed off looking Kakashi stood over him, red and blue eye glaring at him.
"Naruto get the hell out of bed." He said, slapping the blonde's head. Naruto cringed at the contact, opening tired blue eyes to glare at his caretaker, and Kakashi glared back. A heated battle of wits broke out, before Naruto lost, crawling out of his bed and falling onto the floor gracelessly.
"I hate you." The teen muttered to the adult, dragging himself up onto his feet and dragging said feet out of his over crowded, over messy room to the hall, removing his shirt as he did so. He kicked the door closed to the bathroom as he entered, slamming it on Kakashi's surprised face. He threw his discarded clothes in the basket, walking naked to his shower. Turning the water on, he scratched his head for a second, making a face at the grease he felt in his hair.
"Ew." After waiting for the water to warm up, he stepped into the shower, closing the door as he let the water fall onto him in the heavy setting; water pounding on his head and back. He grabbed shampoo, rubbing his scalp with it quietly, eyes closed.
Today was the first day of school. There would be the usual assembly at the beginning during first and second because that's when Tsunade actually woke up enough to have it. Then they would have their third period class, and their schedule would go back to normal.
Though, Naruto sensed that this year would be very different than the year before.
Memories of Sasuke coming to the school, of him standing up to Naruto during the first day assembly and of actually fighting him at lunch flashed through his head; seeing how the boy changed from indifferent to a broken child in the course of only a week and a half; watching as he grew up from these memories and turned them from pain to power. He then winced as the memory of watching Sasuke cry over his brother's dead body filled his mind; how the broken, lost child within him had broken out, clutching to the bloodied body, not caring that the blood was sinking into his own clothes. When they had tried to get Sasuke away from Itachi, Sasuke had practically attacked them; eyes a dangerous red and teeth clenched, bared in the same way an animal would bare them when they were going to attack.
Only Naruto could rip the boy away from Itachi's corpse, holding him to him as Sasuke sobbed, clutching to Naruto just as desperately. That was the day that Sasuke had changed forever.
He had seemed normal enough during the remainder of the school year, but Naruto watched the changes as they began to take place. Sasuke had become more introverted, and began to care less and less about what he did in school. He would skip classes if he didn't feel like going to them, hanging out on the roof and just staring out at the back of the school where the picnic tables were. Even in the rain, he'd sit out there; eyes closed and face turned towards the sky as if he were cleansing himself of some sort of sin. Naruto had never bothered him, not wanting him to fake a smile or force out conversation; if Sasuke wanted to be alone, he could be. Naruto would watch in the distance.
Finally, when Itachi's birthday came around, the final change in Sasuke had taken place. He had turned cold; his eyes blank and almost dead like they had been when he remembered. Once in a while, Sasuke would go to him and tell him memories that he was gaining back; the process still not finished as he remembered the events in the rehab he had spent some time in. But he wouldn't talk too much, or too loudly. It was like he had finally realized his Aniki wasn't just gone away; it was like it fully sank into his mind that Itachi Uchiha was dead.
He rinsed the conditioner he had put into his hair out, turning the shower off. He stood there for a moment, before pushing the door opened, grabbing the towel on the towel rack and drying his hair and neck quietly, wrapping it around his waist. He walked to the sink to brush his teeth, licking them briefly, before using mouthwash and rinsing. He ran his fingers through his hairs, arm dropping to his side; droplets of water dripped off of well toned biceps and a tanned chest, the well built chest something of envy to those who had seen his figure.
He walked out of the bathroom in his towel, waving to Kakashi who was waiting outside. Kakashi nodded, walking in and closing the door, and Naruto heard the shower turn on again right before he closed his door.
The blonde sighed, leaning back against the door as he stared at his room, frowning a little. He planned on making this year different for Sasuke.
He would help Sasuke live again.
The school was noisy as it always was in the mornings, with friends finding friends and new first years walking around, trying to find a friend group to stick to. Naruto grinned at people that recognized him, waving lazily as he walked down the front walkway to the back; the Bijuu Gang was at the rooftop as it always was. First years stared at Naruto in awe, before second and third years dragged them away, hissing to them that they shouldn't stare at him; explaining who he was. He inwardly frowned; he didn't like the fact that people feared him because of who he was. Or at least, who he was famous for.
He sighed, climbing up the metal fire escape before he got onto the roof, seeing the members of the gang sitting in their usual spots; Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon sitting by themselves next to Ino, Sakura and Neji, who were all talking about something, Neji looking a little happier than he had been the past few weeks. Kankuro sat beside Shino and Kiba, talking to them; now that Temari was gone, Kankuro had to find a new spot and new people to hang around with. Tenten Itsumi and Rock Lee were talking to each other near Gaara, who sat in his usual spot. Sasuke sat on the ground in his usual spot as well; sketchpad in his lap and backpack resting beside him.
The blonde grinned, waving as they all looked up; he got a few waves of return, some of them calling out 'Hey!' and 'What's up, Kyuubi?' before he walked to his normal spot. He sat down; looking at the sketchpad in Sasuke's lap and the Uchiha looked up at him with curious eyes. "What?"
"Nothing, just wonderin' what you were drawing." He said, looking at it. He saw the rough outlines of a strong jawed face, and frowned; he couldn't tell who it was by the outline? But he usually could! Sasuke smiled a little, and Naruto raised an eyebrow at him curiously. "Who are you drawing?"
"No one," Sasuke said, closing the sketchpad. "You can't know yet." He then slipped the pad back into his book bag, leaning against the cement siding as he looked at the blonde. "Is Kakashi here yet?"
"He'll be here in half hour," Naruto said, shrugging with one shoulder. "You got him for English again?"
"Yeah, first period yet again," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "I got Asuma for Math second, Anko for gym third and Yugao Uzuki is my art teacher. Hayate Gekko is teaching me Health." Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. "I made sure I would not have Drama this year; I'd have killed myself than do Drama again."
"Don't kill yourself; that's a little permanent." Naruto said, smiling at him. "I'd bore you with my subjects, but the bell's actually gonna ring pretty soon; I got here kind of late."
"Why is that?" Sasuke asked, looking at the blonde with an inquisitive eyebrow rose. Naruto shrugged lightly, looking over to the side as he answered.
"I got caught up in something at home." He said. The bell then decided to ring, and everyone got up, Naruto stretching his arms over his head. "To the first day of boredom!"
"Huzzah!"
"…Is that really how you greet everyone?" Sasuke asked, looking at Naruto oddly. Naruto smirked, nodding as Shikamaru lazily waved, walking to the fire escape with everyone else.
"Yeah."
"…Wow. I'm dating a dork." Sasuke said, and then started to the escape. Naruto blinked, before he gasped.
"That hurt!"
Naruto sighed, leaning back in his seat as he looked out at the window, the teacher doing the usual first day greetings and giving out the first day sheets on the course outline. He didn't understand why they did this; it wasn't like anything was new. The teacher, Genma Shiranui, with his senbon needle in between his teeth as it always was, was reminding students of the rumour he had started the year before.
The brown haired man looked at the blonde as he daydreamed beside the window, sighing quietly; the kid sure as hell liked windows, because he sat next to one in every class that he had. It probably had something to do with his past or whatever. He then looked over at the door as Shizune, the vice principal, stepped inside, smiling at him kindly. "Could we kindly kidnap your class? Tsunade wants her assembly now."
"She's had her fill of sake then." Genma said, grinning at the vice. Shizune blushed a little, nodding as Genma nodded. "Sure, I'll send the brats down." The black haired woman nodded, bowing a little to him before she left quietly. Genma looked at the class, grinning. "Okay, get your asses down to the auditorium." He said, making a shooing motion with his hand. Naruto and the other students all got up soundlessly, making their way down to the auditorium. Naruto mixed in with the other students, looking at nothing as he walked down the halls quietly; his mind elsewhere.
They entered the auditorium quietly, taking their seats right at the back, where the fourth years sat every year. The third years sat in front of them, and Naruto saw Sasuke sitting with Neji, Shikamaru and Chouji Akimichi like he had last year when he had first seen the Uchiha. Second and first years made their way into the auditorium slowly, taking their seats.
Finally, after a few minutes of everyone murmuring to themselves, the doors in the back slammed open, and Tsunade Takahashi made her way up to the front in a shirt that showed off her ample chest and a pair of formal black pants; boots clicking on the auditorium floor as she made her way down the stairs to the lower platform in the front. She got up, smiling at the teachers that sat around, before she went to the microphone that Shizune had set up before she had gotten there. Standing in front of it, hands on her hips, she looked at the school with a critical eye before grinning.
"Hello, everyone! My name is Tsunade Takahashi, though I'd rather you call me Tsunade, and I am your principal. Welcome back to another year of Konoha High! And if you are new, welcome to Konoha High and I hope you have a pleasant year. Could all those who are new, please stand up?"
Everyone watched as the new kids stood up, some people standing in a lazy stance, others standing nervously. Tsunade scanned the room for anyone new other than first years before she nodded to them, smiling. "Thank you! Now, to continue on with our assembly. In Konoha High we have a few simple rules. Rule one: no killing each other. Rule two: no one unauthorized may go up to the roof. If you have specific permission granted to you from me personally, than you may stick around up there. Rule three: no smoking inside, or doing any drugs inside, or drinking inside. Rule four: no beating each other up to a bloody pulp. And finally, rule five: no one die, alright? I don't want to sign any troublesome paperwork."
She then nodded, smirking again. "Now I'll be handing the mic over to Shizune, your vice principal. Respect her like you'd respect me and everyone will get along fine! Shizune?" Tsunade slid out of the petite woman's way, and Shizune smiled at everyone easily.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to our high school. We hope that nothing will occur that you'll need to come to us about in complaint. Now, we have a few new things that happened over the summer." She looked at everyone before she nodded to someone in the crowd. "First, I'd like you all to welcome our new home economics teacher Sasori Sabaku. Iruka Umino, our usual home economics teacher, is ill and is in the hospital. So everyone give Mr. Sabaku a warm welcome." Everyone clapped as Sasori stood up, bowing to them politely, before he walked up to say something briefly.
"If you could all just call me Sasori that would be nice. Being called Mr. Sabaku makes me feel old." He said, smiling, before he went back to his seat. Shizune then stepped back up to the mic, looking at everyone.
"And one more thing before we let you go to third period," she said, pushing back her black hair.
"Please welcome our new medic; Kabuto Yakushi."