Fall to Grace

Chapter 7

By: Lazuli

Wow, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out; I've been super busy lately. I hope you enjoy this and the new developments will show up.  proud_snapist gets a thousand internet cookies for her hard work in looking over this for me and listening to me hash out ideas.

As always, Naruto doesn't belong to me. Enjoy! 

"Isn't that right, Uchiha-san?" Those gleaming, all-too-knowing eyes never left Sasuke's as the priest circled closer. Sasuke's team unconsciously moved closer around him and tensed, preparing to defend him if necessary. They're acting on instinct for once, although I didn't think I would be the focus of their protection.  It was rather insulting, but he was mildly proud of them at the same time.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Sasuke said dryly, but he was starting to curse inwardly. Didn't Gaara mutter something about how only the servants could see me? Unless the priests counted as servants as well…"My team and I came to visit some of the temples in the area, to learn more of the practices." His gaze was unwavering. "The Kazekage has approved of this already."

"He knows what you are, as do the people in this temple." The priest looked down at Riko, Yuuto and Daiki with a faintly pitying expression. "It's a shame that your students don't realize the truth about you."

A hint of a familiar presence at Sasuke's back had him tensing, but he didn't turn around. "You are acting far above your station." A familiar voice murmured, the deadly threat obvious in the words. "If you know the Uchiha for what he is, then he is far above you and commands your respect. Your attempt to intimidate him will only get you in trouble." 

"I do not hold any respect for Nekomata's servants." The priest said stiffly. "It is an insult to our temple for that one to be here." His look towards Gaara was more respectful than it was to Sasuke, but it was obvious the priest was not pleased. "Shukaku-sama would not appreciate a servant of that cat being here." The priests didn't believe in keeping Shukaku a secret, or the worship of him. The Kyuubi had been angered when his people forgot him, and those of Suna and under Shukaku would not make the same mistake.

Not that outsiders needed to know everything, of course, but the blatant ignorance that those from Konoha displayed was appalling to the priests.

"He is still higher than you are." Gaara's eyes were cold as they focused on the priest. "Shukaku approves of this, or else the cat would not be allowed in here. Or have you not realized that?"

Sasuke was getting annoyed at being talked over his head. Being patronized or made fun of was not something that he enjoyed. "Are you quite finished?" He demanded.

Gaara's gaze slid over to Sasuke for the barest moment before returning to the priest. "He is here for a purpose and if Shukaku breaks him a little while imparting the information…" Now his smile was cold and hinted at the boy that Sasuke remembered from his childhood—before Naruto had changed him so much. "Then it is his fault for venturing into the temple in the first place. He was warned."

"Sensei…" Daiki's expression conveyed his worry. "I want to leave and go back to our rooms." He didn't tug on Sasuke's clothing or anything so childish, but it was clear that neither he or his teammates enjoyed the atmosphere of the temple anymore. "They clearly do not want us here."

"We were invited by the Kazekage." Sasuke's voice was sharper than normal, but it wasn't directed at Daiki. His fur was standing on end with tension and anger; he was trying hard to control himself. "Although the offer has questionable intentions." His gaze was as cold as Gaara's as he met the Kazekage's eyes. "Threats toward(s) an ally?"

Gaara shrugged. "No, towards an enemy of Shukaku. There is a difference." He wasn't forthcoming with anymore explanations and Sasuke growled. "Then my team and I will take our leave of you and thank you for your earlier hospitality." Tail spiked out in a way that only the priests and Gaara could see, Sasuke turned sharply on his heel, gesturing for his team to follow him.

Gaara watched him and smirked slightly before giving his parting shot. "Ask Naruto about all that has happened. I am sure that he would know much more than I." It took every effort not to react to that and to keep walking out the door.  

He would be talking to Naruto when they got back. Nothing was going to stop him.

~

He knew his team wanted to ask questions—hell, if it had been Team Seven, Naruto would have never shut up and Sakura would have done research. He wouldn't have said anything out loud, but he would have still wanted to know. It had infuriated him as a child to be ignorant of something; it hadn't changed after he became an adult.

Finally Daiki spoke up, his voice hesitant and words stumbling over one another. "I…I didn't know that you were connected with Nekomata, sensei." Sasuke could barely hear him and his tail twitched at the mention of the cat god. "I… you didn't mention it when we talked about it last time…"

"There was nothing to discuss." Sasuke said sharply. "The only association that I know about is my visiting the temple in Sakurai some months ago." He wasn’t going to mention the cat-like features; no one else could see them—why should he talk about an unwanted embarrassment to himself?

Daiki frowned at this response and Sasuke felt a flicker of uneasiness inside himself. This child had ties to the temple. Granted, they were far back and nothing connected to Daiki personally…Sasuke growled at the way his thoughts were going. He didn't believe in all that nonsense about gods. His own situation was hard to ignore and he'd already given in to most of it, but and he wasn't going to start believing in gods and messengers. Gaara had told him to ask Naruto, perhaps it was one of the prankster's tricks after all.  

If it is, I'm going to kill Naruto when I get a hold of him next.

Yuuto and Riko were silent after the outburst, but they knew something was wrong with their sensei, that the words of the priest upset him more than just because of accusations. They didn't see how their sensei was attached to Nekomata or why the priest even said that. There had been a problem for awhile now and they weren't sure how to handle it. The only person they knew who could help their sensei was their old teacher, Naruto.

When they were under Naruto's tutelage, they saw Sasuke and Naruto talk together a great deal and Naruto had always been able to ferret out information, one way or another. They had been teammates years ago and something of that bond still held. They made a silent, unanimous decision to talk to their old teacher when they got back.

~

When Sasuke got back into Konoha, he was hot and annoyed and was just ready to dump his team off in the middle of the street. He hadn’t forgotten his need to talk to Naruto, but the idiot would be there in the morning; he would corner Naruto when he wasn't expecting it.

While he was delivering the mission report to Tsunade—and leaving out the side trip to the temple—his team had already bolted off into different directions and he couldn't say he actually cared at the moment. All I want is a shower and food and bed. He thought sourly. Then to annoy the moron in the morning and have him fix this whole mess.

"Was that all, Sasuke?" Tsunade folded her hands in front of her and observed the Uchiha. His look was more sullen than usual and spoke of something happening that she hadn't been told.

Sasuke frowned and held his head high. "The Kazekage encouraged us to visit one of the Shukaku temples in the area, as we had already informed him of the trip Naruto and I took to Sakurai." His lip curled briefly. "The priest who greeted us was not very pleasant."

Tsunade barely concealed her smirk. So someone was rude to him and of course he would act pissy over it. She instead sighed and ran a hand through one of her pigtails. "If that is all that happened, you're free to go. I don't foresee any long distance missions for your team coming up, you can all relax somewhat."

Sasuke gave her a stiff bow at her words, grateful that Tsunade didn't question him further. He had too much on his mind—the returning trip through Suna and an unexpected windstorm had driven tiny grains of sand all throughout his fur, and then there was the nagging feeling at the back of his mind that this was only the tip the iceberg.

~

"So how did your mission go?" Naruto was surprised that he had to ask; somebody usually said something by now, especially if they made an effort to track him down. "Sasuke being as prickly as usual?"

Riko picked at her meal, eyes following the movements of her chopsticks instead of looking at her old teacher. "Sasuke-sensei seemed…distracted," she said softly. "After we went into the Shukaku temple and the priest was so rude to him…" Her eyes flicked up to Naruto's, and the look in them was serious and almost demanding. "He talked about how Sasuke was a servant of the cat god."

Daiki nodded. "I knew about the Nekomata temples, but Sasuke-sensei said that he had nothing to do with that…and…" His gaze dropped to his soup as well. "The Kazekage said that you would know something, that Sasuke-sensei should ask you."

Naruto knew this had been coming. After all, Sasuke was never one to listen to reason and would go where he wanted to go. He was surprised that Sasuke survived the encounter at the Shukaku temple, the tanuki god's servants weren't known for being polite to anyone associated with Nekomata. "Did one of the priests accuse Sasuke of being associated with one of Nekomata's temples?"

Yuuto nodded and as he had already finished his ramen, he didn't have a bowl to look at and avoid Naruto's gaze. "The priest said he was an enemy of Shukaku. Daiki said that long ago when there were tons of temples for the animal gods, Nekomata and Shukaku were enemies…I guess that's still true." His look was bewildered. "What does that have to do with Sasuke-sensei?"

"The Kazekage said that Sasuke was far above the priest and demanded respect." His students seemed to be taking turns telling of what happened in the temple and Daiki took up the thread of the story. "From what my grandfather told me, the only ones above the priests—even those of other temples—were the direct servants of the gods. Grandfather only saw a servant once and he said that it was like a meld between a cat and a human…"

Naruto inwardly cursed at this—why hadn’t he found out about this as he looked into his students? The fact that Daiki had family that at one time worked in the Nekomata temple should have never slipped past him…

"Well, you saw your teacher…" Naruto tried to use logic on his students, knowing they were too observant after several months being under Sasuke's tutelage. "Did he have cat ears or whiskers?" He pointed to his own face. "People kinda notice these sort of things." He finished with a grin.

Riko frowned and nodded, but it was uncertain. "We haven't noticed anything like that, but Sasuke-sensei has been acting strange lately."

Naruto forced a smile at that. "Sasuke was always strange," he joked. "Testy and moody like I've seen him act with you. If he was acting all warm and fuzzy, then I'd be worried that something was wrong with him."

"No, it isn't that…" The joke was lost on Riko as she stirred her now cold noodles. "He's been…distracted and Sasuke-sensei is never distracted." That was an understatement. Sasuke was usually so focused on whatever was going on that it was rare that he missed anything that he set his mind to. And teaching his team of students was something he was previously had been more focused on than anything else.  

Naruto wanted to reassure them, but empty platitudes would only make them upset and wary of whatever else he told them. He couldn't tell them the truth; if he wasn't allowed to tell Sasuke, then he certainly wasn't allowed to tell three children that were under Sasuke's command.

"Whatever Sasuke is going through is his business. He may have seen something that…that reminded of his past; you know that your teacher is still not well liked here." It was no secret that the villagers distrusted Sasuke a great deal still. "The way the priest taunted him in Suna may have brought up those memories. Calling someone a servant of Nekomata is one of the worst insults you can give in the Shukaku temples."

"Why would it be directed at Sasuke-sensei, then?" Riko demanded. "He is not associated with that temple or area, and insults don't bother him. He gives a bored stare before he smirks at walks away."

The other three nodded in agreement. "And he's mean to people—really biting." Yuuto muttered. "Doesn't hold back on us, either. Especially when we're not moving fast enough." Despite their words, the three really did care about their teacher.

Daiki coughed lightly. "Riko…that's what he basically did." He whispered. "He didn't even try to force the issue on that priest…he just gathered us together and left." His smile brightened slightly. "So maybe Sasuke-sensei is just…off lately and needs a break." He looked as if he would like the break as well and Naruto gave a soft chuckle. "He didn't even try to really ream into that priest and that snobby old man was asking for it."

"Maybe he does…" His voice was cheerful enough as he paid the bill for dinner and prodded Riko, Yuuto and Daiki off the stools and towards their homes. This had been a tradition for him when he was still being taught by Iruka and he vowed that he would take his own students out for a meal every once in awhile. "Don't worry so much about Sasuke.  He's such a bastard at times that even if you did offer to help him, he'd never notice."

"But you can help him, Naruto-sensei." Yuuto looked up with innocent, trusting eyes. "He listens and trusts you… if there's anything wrong, find it out for us, okay?" He gave a cheerful wave as he joined his teammates, all of them heading home.

Naruto watched them go, a sad expression on his face.

~

Sasuke woke up late the next day; something he rarely did. He could only blame it on the warm patch of sunlight that lay across his bed; it was too…comfortable…for him to leave alone. He was curled up into a position that should have been largely uncomfortable, but with his head tucked close to chest and tail wrapped around his body, he was more relaxed than he'd been in a long time.

He ignored the fact that the sun was usually what woke him up, and not supposed to put him back to sleep. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he flicked his tail absentmindedly out of the way as he washed his face. He didn't forget that he planned to speak to Naruto today—there was no way the idiot was going to get out of talking with him.

But as he walked around town, he was a little confused at the slightly pitying looks people were giving him, sympathetic stares and almost resigned, wary expressions. What the hell is going on here?

He spotted Sakura coming towards him, a spray of flowers held loosely in one hand. "Sasuke-kun…" Her voice held that same tinge of sadness as the villagers’ looks had. "Are you coming to the memorial with me today?"

Sasuke stared at her in confusion, wondering why she would visit the memorial. "What for?" He asked bluntly.

Her eyes widened and tears filled the corners. "Sasuke…" Her voice was almost a whisper. "You can't keep on acting as if nothing happened, he's gone and all the pretending in the world won't bring him back!"

"Bring who back?" Sasuke thrust his hands in his pockets and walked beside Sakura, looking out for Naruto as he did so. "Is Naruto meeting us at the memorial?" It was the only reason he could think of to explain why he hadn't seen Naruto at the ramen stand or accompanying Sakura to the memorial—for whatever reason she wanted to go.

"In a way…" Sakura murmured, eyes downcast. "You'll never give in…" Her voice was barely audible to him and Sasuke's ears flattened back at the tone and his tail unconsciously drooped in confusion. Naruto had better be waiting for us. He thought in annoyance. If it's not one thing out of place, it's another. He wasn't sure why Naruto would have explanations for Sakura's odd behavior, but the blond had grown closer to her over the years.

The memorial was empty of people, but there were numerous items placed in front of it. Flowers were the main item, but he saw a few random things here and there—a paintbrush and a pair of goggles like Naruto used to wear before he earned his headband. A ramen cup…Sasuke's blood turned to ice in his veins.

"Who are we visiting at the memorial, Sakura?" Sasuke's voice was stiff as he knelt in front of the offerings, starting at the names on the list; names that he hadn't really spent much time looking at before.

Sakura took a deep breath as she laid her flowers among the few there and turned to face Sasuke. "We're visiting Naruto, Sasuke." She mindlessly arranged the flowers in front of the memorial as she spoke to him. "We went over this last year, Sasuke. It's not healthy for you to deny that Naruto's gone. I know that it's hard on you most of all but…"

She gasped and had to dart out of the way as Sasuke nearly tackled her, eyes spinning with the Sharingan and claws outstretched. "That idiot is NOT dead!" he hissed out. "I saw him not that long ago; he can't be dead. When did this happen?" He demanded.

Looking shaken, she brushed her clothing off and stared at him in disbelief. "Two years ago." she said softly. "You know that…it was …terrible that he died saving his students like he did, but…"

"He couldn't have died!" Sasuke's voice was soft and deadly, but there was an undercurrent of pleading there. "I'm not going crazy, I know he isn't dead. I went with him to Sakurai not that long ago, he bugged me about my mission to Suna right before I left. Fuck, even Gaara knows that he's alive!"

"You've been dreaming all that, Sasuke." Sakura put a calming hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You know that you couldn't have seen him before your mission, because he had already been …been dead for almost two years at that point. Right before the academy students graduated…there was that attack."

"Attack?" Sasuke asked dully, no longer knowing what was certain. Naruto couldn't be dead, any moment now the idiot would come prancing up and poking Sasuke in the side, taunting him for falling for something so obviously stupid. But…Naruto wasn't like that; he wouldn't pull a stunt that would hurt the people he cared about. He wanted to be acknowledged, not seen as dead.

"Some missing nin decided it would be a good idea to attack barely trained academy students while they were in the middle of last minute survival lessons. Naruto…Naruto fought them off, but ever since he cut off kyuubi's chakra completely…he didn't make it." Her voice had the dull, resigned quality of someone who repeated a lesson far too many times.

"You're not serious…Naruto couldn't die, he's too stubborn! A few missing nin?" Sasuke scoffed. "He wouldn't die from something like that."

Sakura snapped, her eyes furious as she spun around to poke a finger in Sasuke's chest. "Get over it already!" Her voice was a raspy whisper as if she'd already been crying. "He's gone and it's over! Naruto will never become Hokage, we'll never see him again—just accept it already."  She turned around again, shoulders shaking with renewed sobs. "I'm tired of explaining this to you. Just…just go away and keep on pretending. Just do it away from me."

Before he left, his eyes picked up Naruto's name among the countless others on the memorial stone, and all of sudden, he knew that it wasn't a joke. Uzumaki Naruto had died…and he knew nothing about it. It still didn't make any sense to him.

Sasuke stumbled away from the memorial, automatically going towards Naruto's apartment, trying to find some way to prove Sakura wrong. He jumped up to the window, but as he climbed inside, he knew that Naruto hadn't been here for a long time—the apartment was empty and there was dust collecting on the few bits of broken furniture remaining. Even Naruto's plants were gone.

Sasuke's head hurt and he slumped to the floor, letting his head rest on his knees. He didn't know what to do or say or what steps to take next. Nothing made any sense. Sasuke closed his eyes, willing everything to be back to normal.

~

"You keep on doing reckless moves like leaping in front of sharp weapons, you're going to end up closer to Kyuubi than you planned." Sasuke scowled as he helped bandage up Naruto's side. "Why did you do this again?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's scolding. "I told you—those kids were in danger and I couldn't just watch, now could I?" He demanded. "They hardly knew how to defend themselves."

"It was their own fault for wandering on the training grounds at the temple." Sasuke pointed out logically, tightening the bandage before pulling Naruto to his feet. "You know how dangerous that place is—especially when the guardians decide to 'play.'"

"Good thing I was there—" It hadn't exactly been the smartest thing to do—darting between a guardian using a flame attack and another with twin swords to scoop up a kid that got too close to combatants. "The guardians should have been watching for this sort of thing, though. It isn't the first time this has happened."

"You did it when you were a kid, didn't you?" Sasuke asked dryly. Naruto's sheepish grin was all the answer he needed. "Idiot." His voice was fond as he lightly smacked Naruto upside the head. "Just be careful that you don't get yourself killed anytime soon."

Naruto gave Sasuke a cheeky grin. "I wouldn't get myself killed before I found a way to get together with you permanently," he said with a teasing grin.

"Then you should be alive for awhile." Sasuke handed Naruto his robes for the festival. "Put these on now, idiot—good thing these have so many layers. No one will see the bandages under all this crap."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto rolled his eyes. "I can't wait until this stupid festival is over." They were both required to attend, but Naruto moreso due to his family connection to the temple. Even though Sasuke didn't need to be there, he was going for Naruto.

"It'll be over sooner than you think," Sasuke reassured Naruto. "We'll stand around, try not to look bored, and then sneak away later to go training. You certainly need the extra help."

"Bastard." Naruto aimed a punch at Sasuke's side and hurriedly finished dressing. His father would kill him if he was late for the festival.

"Hn." Sasuke' s look was amused as he followed the blond down the lantern lined walkways, towards the main festival grounds and the Kyuubi temple.

~

Sasuke awoke with someone poking him in the side, and he stared up blearily. He didn't sense anyone coming and his eyes didn't seem to want to focus. The blurry figure was kneeling next to him and there was regret on its face.

"Sasuke…c'mon, I didn't expect you to fall asleep here." At the sound of the familiar voice, Sasuke's head shot up and he stared at Naruto in disbelief. "Get up, you idiot! You can't just lay on a cold floor like this."

Sasuke flattened Naruto to the ground, eyes flaring with anger. His body felt like it was moving twice as fast but something in his gut twisted painfully at the relief that Naruto wasn't dead and anger at the stupid prank that Naruto pulled.

"Sakura said that you died—your name is on the fucking memorial, Naruto." All of the fur on Sasuke's body stood on end. "What the hell are you playing at, idiot?" While he was yelling at Naruto, his brain was frantically trying to tell him that something else was wrong, that he was missing something so completely obvious.

"Get off of me, bastard!" Naruto shoved at Sasuke, pushing him off of his body with little effort. "I can explain everything to you—don't you notice anything different about me, cat-boy?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "You…you can see the cat features, can't you?" he demanded, reaching to grab at Naruto again, but the blond darted out of his way. "Why didn't you say anything before, you moron?" The question hit his brain a moment later and he stared at Naruto, eyes finally taking in his features. "What the hell…?"

The dimming light of the sun highlighted Naruto's features—his blond hair and blue eyes was the same; as well as the eye-smarting color of orange he was wearing, but the fox ears and tails changed Naruto's appearance until he looked like a totally different creature all together.

"You…what….?" Sasuke's brows drew together and his irritation was momentarily forgotten as he examined Naruto's appearance. "As henges go, it's not very funny, Naruto," he said sharply. "If you simply want to make fun of me for the damn cat features then apparently you have something to do with—"

Naruto rolled his eyes and poked Sasuke in the chest with a clawed fingertip. "Use that Sharingan you're so famous for," he ordered, annoyed. "You know me well enough to know that I wouldn't purposely make myself look like a fox."

Sasuke invoked the Sharingan and stared at Naruto, examining each of the features—the sweeping tails, the ears that flicked back and forth to some far away sound—he blanched when he let his eyes go back to normal. "What is going on here?" He surprised himself with how calm his voice was.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his forehead. "That's what I was going to tell you a moment ago, dumbass," he muttered. "Look—I wasn't able to say anything before, but it's gone beyond that point now and I'm actually getting pushed to tell you a bit more now." His gaze turned away from Sasuke, but the way Naruto held his body showed how obviously uncomfortable he was.

"Spit it out, Naruto. This has been going on for far too long without any explanation." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and stood in front of Naruto. "You know something and I want to know what the fuck is going on."

Naruto took a deep breath. "I'm… well… I'm a kitsune," he said simply. "I've been a kitsune for a long time now…" Naruto was obviously waiting for Sasuke's reaction to that, but when he didn't reply, he went on. "I…and you—"

Sasuke whirled away from him and started pacing, trying to reign in his temper. He could read Naruto's emotions, saw how distressed he was, and was ready to give a scathing response to Naruto's 'kitsune' excuse.

The tail got in the way. Sasuke gave the swishing appendage an annoyed look, which only made it twitch more enthusiastically with his annoyance. One hand clenched at his side and he wondered if he would survive the pain if he ripped the damn thing off. It set him off balance and every time he moved it swung in the direction he was moving.

"It takes awhile to get used to." Sasuke whirled around at the sound of Naruto's voice, dark eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Excuse me?" He hissed out. "It takes awhile to get used to? I don't want to get used to the damn thing, I'm not meant to have a tail and if you don't do something to get rid of it…" Naruto was behind this whole thing—his appearance and his sudden desire to look like the fox inside of him…

Naruto held up his hands in defense. "Look, I didn’t make the rules." He said testily. "I didn't decide all of a sudden that you were supposed to have a tail and ears and a sudden hankering for drinking milk and eating fish. It wasn't up to me that you'd gain all this shit, I did my best to prevent it."

Silence reigned for a moment. "Prevent it?" Sasuke's voice grew quiet—but far from pleased. "Is this part of what you need to tell me?" He asked. "Something of what's been missing from my knowledge?" At Naruto's uneasy nod, Sasuke took a deep breath and turned his face to the side. He'd get some answers from Naruto, it would just take…time.  Right now he was too embarrassed to show any inability to do something on his own. "How do you get used to a tail?"

Naruto leaned back against his bare wall, hands behind his head. His tails, Sasuke noticed with irritation, were completely still. "Like I said, it takes awhile.. but…" He shrugged. "Just get used to the motion of the tail. Yours moves a bit more than mine, I think…" Here a grin, albeit an uncertain one. "But it's still your body and you have to make it so that it's completely a part of you, instead of an inconvenience."

At the annoyed scowl that crossed Sasuke's face, he hurried to explain. "It's a part of you, there is no changing that. Things are going to get worse before they're going to get better. Get over it, Sasuke." He snapped. "I got over it and so will you."

"You're not human." The words were out before Sasuke could stop them, and the silence that occurred this time was less pleasant.

"Neither are you, anymore," Naruto bit out, turning around and getting ready to leave. "You know what? You can deal with all this stupid shit on your own. I was going to be nice and explain things for you, but with that type of attitude, I don't give a shit anymore."

"Naruto…" Sasuke couldn't keep the irritation from his voice as he tried to talk to him.

"Fuck off." Came the reply.

"Don't act like such a child, Naruto. I've said worse things to you and you've never cared." He honestly did not understand why Naruto was pitching such a fit about this. "You said yourself that you were a kitsune." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And I'm still human, no matter what features are on me."

"I was human once, asshole." Blue eyes gleamed at him. "Just because you'll never be human again isn't any reason to rub my lack of humanity in my face. You don't understand what it's like yet. You don't know and it'll take you just as long as it did me to understand and get used to everything." His tone was more bitter than Sasuke had ever heard it. "No one helped me along. I'm doing my best to help you."

"Why me, Naruto?" Sasuke asked dryly. "Why do you have such an avid interest in me, why are you still hanging around?" He raised an eyebrow, demanding a response.

"You really are an idiot. No matter how many times I call you my friend, you always question my motives as to why I do something."

"I can't imagine why!" Sasuke shouted back at Naruto, uncaring that people could probably hear him. "You lied to me for years on end, you make everyone think you're dead and now you tell me you're a kitsune?"

Naruto's ears flattened against his head and the last light of the sun faded away against the buildings of Konoha, plunging the room into sudden darkness. Sasuke could care less about Naruto's feelings at the moment—he felt betrayed by the only person he could trust and his body—new additions and all—were making that very clear.

Tapping one foot on the ground, he stared at Naruto, his Sharingan giving him a clear image of the kitsune-Naruto, shimmering features and all. "Well?"

Naruto cleared his throat and bit his lip. "I've been alive for longer than you know, Sasuke—and I was there when you died centuries ago."

~