The night passed by with the two Uzumaki brothers sleeping next to each other, Kyu slowly drifting to sleep as he threw an arm over his brother's torso and Naruto slowly dying as the regret ate him up from within. Although he had said he didn't know who the person was, Kyu kept asking even when Itachi was long gone from the house, Sasori and Kisame tagging along while Konan, Sakura and Deidara stayed the night in the extra room.
Each time Kurama asked, Naruto would keep his answer the same, in his mind, Itachi warning him over and over about harming his brother should he tell. And then there was that other conversation they had earlier when Kyu tried to change topic as Sakura and Konan waltzed in after a while.
Itachi, being the manager of one of his father's companies, had decided to prove to his father he could handle the business by himself. According to Kyu, he excitedly told everyone over dinner how Itachi had written a contract naming Kyu as the supervisor for the new building he was planning to construct. Itachi had agreed, also adding how the contract was signed and sealed and was pending approval. Why was this important?
Itachi had Naruto at the palm of his hands, that's why. Not only was Itachi proving he had power, but he had said before how he would destroy his brother, and by contracting Kurama, that's exactly how he was going to do it. The Uchiha company had power, no doubt about it. Should Itachi say anything about Kyu, that could ruin him and his work; no one would hire him if the Uchiha company had a problem with him. The contract was blackmail.
Naruto was thinking too much, looking over towards the peaceful sleeping face of his brother and letting out a sigh. He couldn't do this to him, Kyu lived for construction. As oddly as it seemed, he was almost made for it.
With too many thoughts clouding his mind, Naruto stayed awake, for the next couple of weeks wishing everything could stop.
November went by in a flash. Nothing happened, fortunately, as Itachi was away on a business trip with his father. While Naruto spent almost the entire month pretending he was okay. Kurama, of course, didn't buy it. He had spent his entire time meeting up with other builders and contractors for the Uchiha company and when he did have time, he would come home almost immediately to check up on his brother. He worried the most out of everybody, though Naruto had even made the effort to go out with friends to ease their worries. That seemed to convince them, well, almost all of them.
While Deidara and Sasori first doubted the blond's sudden boost of emotions, they were soon convinced and began bothering him like they used to.
Konan was especially hard to convince. Like Sakura and Kyu, she didn't believe any of the act the blond put up. This was especially hard when she was the only one aside from Kyu who knew about the blond being raped. Kyu had made sure only her and Itachi knew, and when he told her, he had to almost tie her to a chair to keep her from going crazy.
She kept an eye on Naruto at all times, even when the blond assured he was completely fine. Every once in a while, she would drive up to his house to check up on him, using every excuse she could come up with just to make sure. She even had the band move their equipment to his garage.
Now Kisame, that guy had his suspicions. Naruto wasn't sure if Kyu had told him, but maybe he did. The guy began staying at Naruto's house more often, Sakura tagging along and slowly, the two staying over often for reasons much more unusual than Konan's. Naruto's favorites were Kisame's since Sakura always answered with the same 'just tagging along' excuse. Kisame's were so obvious but Naruto appreciated their efforts to keep him company. 'My house flooded.' was one of Naruto's favorites. 'There's nothing to do at home.' ,'Your place is much better.' ,'You have better food.' , and Naruto's overall favorite: 'My cat died.'
Hilarious, Kisame didn't even like cats.
It had been a fast month, most of it consisting of checking up on him and feigning being okay. As for what happened to Sasuke, Naruto wasn't too sure. The last time he had heard from him was that night when Kyu came home and had to lead Sasuke out of the house. It was when Itachi announced the contract, and maybe Kyu had done something so bad, Sasuke was almost sure he'd die if he ever came within distance. Though Naruto was a bit sad, often times wondering what Sasuke had to say back then, or what he was doing at the moment.
The last time he had seen him, however, was a few days before the first of December, when Naruto had gone out with Tenten and Lee to a café. Sasuke was there by coincidence but even then, it had been a short moment as he had immediately gotten up to leave. Saddened, Naruto decided to leave him be, thinking it was probably his fault, who knows?
December came along, and with it, an obstacle Naruto had trouble getting over. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits for the holidays, but Naruto just couldn't muster up anything to fit the mood. It became so frustrating to act normal, that he had gotten worse; spending the first few weeks of December in his dull room and dwelling in his depression. He had refused to eat, often times having no appetite, and had refused to come out for even a simple outing. Kyu had to gather everyone to help him feel better and that's just what they did.
Around the twenty second of the month, everyone got together and invaded the blond's home, surprising him with various plastic bags in hands and gifts in their hands. They all had decided to come over and help the blond decorate his house since he hadn't even felt like lifting a finger to do anything. He would've preferred to be alone, but he guessed the company did feel nice.
Kisame had brought along a new friend he had made, one by the name of Hidan. Despite his colorful language, he got along with everyone and especially Konan. He was usually grumpy, often times found mumbling about something and making everyone laugh, but he was okay.
Yes, Christmas was approaching, and with everyone's help, even Naruto began to feel happy as Hidan contributed to helping him laugh. Turns out, the man hated the holiday, but for the sake of his new friends, he hung around often. You can imagine how colorful everyone got along thanks to the man's influence.
It was nice being around everyone, but the feeling didn't last for long. On the twenty third, Kyu had come home, happily throwing the doors open and letting a few flakes of snow in as he surprised everyone with the newly named vice-president of the Uchiha company.
It was terrifying to see him after almost two months. No doubt Naruto knew he had many things in store for him and he was even more terrified at the thought it could all start that very night. Even more terrifying, was seeing how Itachi had walked in, acting so happy around everyone as they congratulated him on his new position. He was all smiles that Naruto had forgotten it was this very man's fault he was like this. This very man that everyone hugged and conversed with, was the very man Naruto had trouble sleeping; fearing that he'd come out of nowhere and put him through all of that. Itachi was the reason he couldn't sleep at night, the reason he had spent a few weeks shut in his room with paranoia at the slightest sound. The reason he no longer wanted to walk this earth.
"Itachi, congrats, love." Konan hugged the Uchiha as he returned a tight embrace. He had earned a couple coos as he leaned over to kiss her.
"Ah, Naruto." He looked over towards the blond sitting by the chimney. Naruto was hoping he'd go by unnoticed, but how is that possible when the predator has only a single prey? "I missed you, dude. How you've been?" He asked, sending shivers down Naruto's spine as he walked near, stretching his hand out to him. Naruto looked at the hand then back towards his eyes. Itachi waited for the blond to let one hand off from his mug of hot chocolate, and with each passing second, Itachi grew impatient.
Nobody noticed the tension as everyone was busy making fun of Kyu's ridiculous elf outfit to even look their way. "Hey, Naruto." Itachi smiled a bit wickedly. "Don't leave me hanging."
For some reason, the fear had died down. Naruto no longer felt terrified. It almost felt like he couldn't bring up any other feeling to feel besides indifference. Expressionless, that's what he was. He felt as if it really didn't bother him anymore that Itachi was here, standing not even two feet away. The nightmares and illusions Itachi left him with was a worse hell than what this man could probably give.
Taking a sip from his mug, Naruto finally decided to set it aside and take his hand. Itachi gripped it tightly, at first bothered that Naruto had taken long. He grabbed Naruto's other hand and pulled him up, giving the blond a tight hug. His nose buried into the blond's hair, breathing in the scent he missed during his two months away. Naruto could feel his lips ghosting above his neck.
"It's good to be back." Itachi whispered. "I can't wait to spend more time with you."