Disclaimer: There's a thin line between belief and conviction, and an even thinner line between fact and fiction. What can distinguish between the two, except our faith in our own reasoning?

I do not own Naruto. Or do I?

Naruto had always turned a blind eye to art. The beauty of the world around him only served as a painful remainder of the ugliness of his own life.

But now, as he watched the sleeping form of his mother, he felt that he could finally appreciate beauty. He ran a finger down her crimson tresses, marveling at their softness and then traveled down to her angelic face. It looked like it was sculpted out of pale marble and then bathed in milk. He bopped her nose in a gentle manner and Kushina scrunched it up cutely in her sleep. He caressed her lush, red lips and resisted the urge to kiss her for the millionth time.

It would be so easy, just to lean down a little and then place his lips on hers. If not anything, it would calm the turmoil bubbling inside his heart and provide some much-desired peace to his life.

His finger trailed down her neck, tracing the bite marks he had inflicted on her the other night. It still filled him with a sense of pride, to see an ethereal beauty like her marred by his lips. He slipped his finger into her cleavage, feeling his heart race as erotic thoughts filled his mind again. He stroked her pink nipples and they hardened at his touch. He traced the underside of her breasts, feeling their squishy smoothness.

He tapped his finger on her belly button and Kushina giggled in her sleep. He chuckled silently...she was just too cute. He moved from the head of the bed to its foot and his finger continued its adventurous path down her navel. He felt like am explorer, wading through trees and mountains in search of a hidden treasure or simply to experience the beauty.

He massaged her long legs and stroked the inside of her thigh, eliciting a low moan out of the sleeping beauty. He placed feather light kisses down the length of her two legs, inhaling the heavenly aroma of her skin. Every inch of her was divine and she was an angel that god had mistakenly sent to earth.

His nose was right above her womanhood and he could feel his thoughts getting muddled from a mere whiff of her aroma. His search finally led him to the same place again, and he had to calm his mind in fear of doing something he'd regret later. His carnal instincts were yelling at him to ravage her, defile her, and make her his. To corrupt this purity with his tainted hands and revel in that glory. But his human side was whispering at him to preserve her like a fragile castle of glass and feel happy that he could admire this ethereal beauty; Even if it was from a distance.

This was how it was every morning. He had to wage a war with himself, with his instincts clashing against his morals.

His hot breath lapped against her womanhood and Kushina shivered involuntarily. "Naru-chan...it tickles."

Naruto broke out of his stupor at the sound of her voice and a melancholic smile appeared on his face. He didn't know whether he was cursed or blessed; To be in presence of this woman was a blessing but to never hold her and love her like he wanted to was a curse he wasn't prepared to bear.

He moved back up to the bedpost and went back to his usual morning routine of staring at her. His hand rose out of his own accord and swept away the curls of crimson hair that fell of to her face. Just looking at her made his heart ache like it never did.

"You have no idea how precious you are to me, Kushina," Naruto whispered as he caressed her cheek.

Kushina leaned into his touch and as though she had heard his words, a content smile appeared on her lips.

Brilliant violent eyes opened to see the morning light filtering into the room thorough the windows. Her gaze immediately went to the blond-haired teen beside her and she saw him sleeping on his side, facing her. His handed rested on her stomach and he had a bitter-sweet expression on his face.

To her sleep-addled mind, it looked like he fell asleep watching her but she knew that would never be the case. Naruto didn't have any feelings for her or it would've been obvious by now; Unlike her, who couldn't see her life without Naruto in it. She lifted her hand out of her own accord and gently swept away the blond hair that fell onto his face.

She tried her best to memorize his face; From the long blond hair that framed his tanned face, the vibrant azure blue eyes, pointed nose, puckered lips and the twin whisker marks on either cheek. She traced his whisker marks and Naruto purred in his sleep like a little fox. Kushina giggled inaudibly….she would never hear the end of it if Naruto ever heard her saying this but he was just too cute for his own good.

She always had a little doubt nagging at the back of her mind that she would forget everything again, an irrational fear generally observed in amnesiac patients. Naruto reassured her every time that it would never happen and even if it did, he'll be there for her again.

But still, she woke up early in the morning everyday and watched him sleep. Because if she ever forgot everything again, she just wanted to remember his face.

Naruto had an ominous feeling all day and his instincts were warning him of something cataclysmic. Being a ninja, he knew that he should never ignore them but he assumed that it might be solely because he was thinking of visiting the Kyuubi in the seal today. A visit to the nine-tailed fox meant that he would return with a bad temper and an even worse mood.

Initially, he had visited the fox to bargain for its chakra as Jiraiya had told him to do but the Kyuubi forced him out of the seal in a fit of rage. When the same thing happened the next three times he tried, he stopped for a moment to think about his actions. And he was ashamed of what he was doing. To demand the chakra of the fox simply because it was imprisoned within him? How arrogant and thoughtless of him. He scorned the villagers for a time for treating him the way they did and here he was, doing the same to the Kyuubi.

From then on, he visited the fox with intentions of friendship or at least peaceful co-existence but the Kyuubi was never convinced by his attempts. He was tenacious if not anything and kept on trying since then, with no results.

Informing Kushina that he would be late by the time he returned – something that made her pout and cling to him like a little girl for the next hour – he strolled down the streets, with his face devoid of any smile or emotion. Being in the presence of Kyuubi always made his emotions go haywire so he learned to prepare himself before the visit. Meditation helped and imagining himself beating the Kyuubi black and blue made it even better.

He chose a secluded training ground and sat down on the ground in a meditating pose, with his legs crossed and his back straight. He started taking deep breaths, calming his mind and like every time else, he felt something prodding at his skin. He had no idea what it was and Jiraiya only gave him a calculative look when he informed the pervert about it. He knew that if he opened his eyes, he would see nothing around him.

If he had to describe the feeling, he would say that it felt like something was asking his permission to enter his body. It wasn't as bad as it sounds and he made sure that it was no ghost planning to invade his soul. In contrast, it had a comforting feel, like a mother smothering her child in a hug. It enveloped him in a warm cocoon, providing a feeling of safety that he had rarely experienced. The wind felt gentle, the ground softer and the trees were his silent guardians

If it didn't sound crazy, he would say that the nature itself was trying to protect him. Pfft, as if. He knew for sure that there was nothing called Nature chakra or anything.

A moment later, he felt drawn into his conscious and when he opened his eyes, he was standing in an empty hallway. The hallway led to various corridors and at the end of each corridor was just darkness; What a mysterious mind he had.

The first time he had entered his conscious, it was an empty sewer, with knee-length pool of murky waters. But since the day Kushina woke up and started living with him, the state of his conscious improved from an empty, dirty sewer to a still as empty but somewhat normal hallway.

He took the corridor that was to his far left and the vile hatred radiating off the walls confirmed that he chose the right corridor. The intensity of the hatred amplified as he walked further and a second later, he entered another hallway but this was huge compared to the previous one. The walls seemed to extend into the skies and the ceiling wasn't even visible from where he was standing.

In front of him were gates as wide as the Hokage mountain and the space behind the gates was consumed by darkness. At the sound of his feet approaching, two crimson-red eyes opened and stared right into his eyes. "Here to disturb my peace again, human?"

"It's nice to see you too, fox," Naruto replied sarcastically.

"You attempts are futile," Kyuubi stated out of nowhere. "I would never tell my name to a worthless ningen like you."

"Then I'll simply keep calling you grumpy fox," Naruto smiled widely, just to infuriate the mighty Kyuubi.

Kyuubi growled. "I've never seen a race as repulsive as yours, human. You thrive in hatred, wars and pettiness but yet preach about love and humanity. Here you are acting like you care about knowing my name but all you care for is power. If you desire my power so desperately, fight for it and take it from me forcefully. But do not expect that I'll be fooled by your misguided attempts at friendship."

Naruto stayed silent for a few moments and Kyuubi closed its eyes again. It assumed that the human would reveal his true intentions and curse it in rage. "I do not want your power."

Kyuubi blinked. "What?"

"I don't want your power, fox," Naruto repeated. "I want to become strong by my own efforts and not because I have you sealed in me."

"So you say," Kyuubi retorted. "But when the chips fall down, you will be just like all others of your kind."

"I am not like them!" Naruto shouted in retaliation.

Kyuubi's eyes gained an evil gleam. "Yes, you are not like them."

Naruto was instantly cautious. The Kyuubi never spoke a good word about him and he had no delusions that he had managed to pierce its cold, hardened shell.

Grinning at Naruto's apprehension, Kyuubi continued. "After all, no human I know would mate with their own mother."

Naruto choked as though he was punched in the gut. "You don't know anything about it, fox."

"You thought I wouldn't know about the incestuous feelings you harbor towards that red-haired harlot?" Kyuubi sneered as Naruto glared daggers at it. "Oh, how I would love to see the look on your dearly departed father's face."

"Shut up," Naruto hands shook as he restrained himself from breaking the seal off and pummeling the fox.

"Your dead father is last person you should be worried about knowing, human," Kyuubi said gleefully. "Imagine the look on the faces of the villagers...the villagers you vowed to protect despite everything they did to you. You'll never become the Hokage if they knew about it…hell you won't be allowed to be a ninja. Your so-called friends will be repulsed and that old Hokage you love so much wouldn't look at you twice."

Each word hit Naruto like a physical blow but he weathered the anguish at the thought of his dreams being forever out of reach. He wouldn't give Kyuubi the pleasure of breaking him.

"...And yet you couldn't even gather the courage to ravish that harlot. Give me control of your body and I'll do it for you, ningen. I'll give her pleasure in ways she never imagined and then I am going to cut her to pieces before eating her."

Naruto hit the gates in rage and looked at the Kyuubi with hate-filled eyes. The amount of rage in those cerulean blue eyes even managed to startle the Kyuubi. "I am going to kill you, immortal or not, if you even touch a hair on her head."

"Oh. You do have a spine," Kyuubi drawled, taking sick pleasure from the way he seemed to be crumbling to pieces. "But know this human...one day you will have to choose between the village and your mother….and on that day, I'll be there watching with a smile as your will shatters."

Naruto disappeared from the seal and Kyuubi sat down on its hunches again, with its eyes closed. A conscious part of it felt a modicum of guilt at the look of despair on the boy's face as he disappeared but it crushed that part with a vengeance.

Naruto opened his eyes but they lost the usual sheen of exuberance. His blue eyes looked dull, like he had lost the light that guided him. He had always postponed the thought what would happen if he ever managed to convey his feelings to Kushina. He thought that he could come to terms with that someday but the words of the Kyuubi hit him a freight train. Oh, how stupid he was.

He fell back limply onto the tree, drawing back the tears that threatened to leak from his eyes. Why was he never given a choice about the things in his life? The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into him when he was a baby, not even thinking of what he had to endure as he grew up. He didn't have a choice then. And now, his heart fell in love with the one woman he could never show his feelings to. The village would scorn him and his mother and he could never do that to Kushina. And now he had to sacrifice his love for the sake of the village that never even looked at him as a human?

He trudged down the roads of the village, looking at everything but not seeing anything. It felt like someone drove a sword through his heart, cleaving it in half. His blood felt like cold fire and the warm afternoon air seared his skin. He entered a bar and sat down in a lone, dark corner. The bartender took one glance at his expression and placed a sake bottle before him; Old enough to kill, old enough to drink.

He didn't know how long he stayed there or how long he drank but the faces of the people kept changing. His head rested on the wooden counter beside him and his body felt like jelly. He couldn't form a proper thought and his vision was getting blurry. Even an academy student could manage to kill him now; Naruto chuckled. What a ninja he was.

He heard someone sitting beside him and he glanced to his side to find a blond-haired woman with green robe wrapped around her busty frame. He felt a cold hand on his forehead and he jerked back instinctively. A voice echoed from beside him. "Sit still, brat."

"B-Baa-chan?" he slurred as Tsunade wiped the sweat on his forehead and made him sit straight on his stool. "Whaz az you doin here?"

"I should be asking that," Tsunade said as she looked at him in concern. "The bartender told me you were here all day."

"All day?" Naruto looked around but his vision was till hazy. The only thing he could see clearly was the half filled sake bottle resting in his hands. He lifted the bottle and brought it to his lips again but Tsunade snatched it from his hands. "Hey! Thass mine."

"Enough sake for you," Tsunade put the bottle aside before rounding on him. "Tell me, brat. What happened?"

"Nozin'! I am compwetey fine. See!" Naruto plastered one of his fake grins on his face.

Tsunade lost her smile at seeing his fake grin again. He had been so happy since Kushina woke up...what happened all of a sudden? Kushina did mention that things were a bit hard home but she didn't expect that the situation could worsen. "Did anything happen to Kushina?"

Naruto's heart clenched in pain at the thought of his mother. He simply shook his head in answer, not trusting himself to form any coherent words.

"Is it Sakura?" Tsunade asked, assuming that he still had a crush on his pink-haired teammate. If it was, then she would be having some words with her apprentice; After all, no one except Tsunade could hurt Naruto. She believed that she had made that clear to all the people in Konoha.

"Of course not," Naruto snorted. His teammate was the last thing on his mind these days. How long had it been since he had even seen her?

"Then what's the matter, Naruto?!" Tsunade slammed her fist down on the counter in anger. The other patrons disappeared in fear of facing the infamous wrath of Tsunade. But she simply sighed before placing his head on her bosom. "Please, Naruto. I can't see you like this."

Naruto stayed silent for a few second before mumbling. "It hurts."

"What?" Tsunade frowned in confusion. "Where does it hurt?"

Naruto placed a hand on his heart and looked up at her with the most heart-breaking expression on his face. "It hurts so much, Baa-chan."

Tsunade winced at the raw pain in his voice and ran a hand though his hair. She hated that every time he was pain, she could do nothing but stand back and watch. She could heal anything if he was hurt physically but a broken woman like her couldn't begin do deal with matters of the heart; And the very boy that managed to heal her heart was suffering now.

Naruto was already drooping in exhaustion as he rested on her chest. Deciding that she could talk to him when he was sober, she called the purple-haired ANBU who was guarding her to escort Naruto home. Yugao acquiesced to her demand with a nod and tried to get him away from Tsunade.

But Naruto simply clung to Tsunade tighter. "Don't leave me, Baa-chan! You can't leave me too!"

Tsunade's heart pained at seeing him act like this. She kissed him on the forehead and unwrapped his arms. "I am not going anywhere, Naruto."

"Promise?" He sounded like his whole existence hinged on her answer.

"Yes, I promise," she said as she reluctantly handed him over to Yugao.

"What happened to him, Tsunade-sama?" Yugao asked as she wrapped her arm around Naruto's waist and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know, Yugao," Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "But please keep him safe."

"I will," Yugao promised, staring at the teen who had already fell asleep in her arms.

Naruto opened his eyes again to find a shock of purple hair in front of his eyes. It wasn't tough to recognize who she was, as there were not many people in Konoha with her unique hair color. The thought of unique hair reminded him of Kushina and he shook his head to get rid of his thoughts before he could go down that dangerous lane. He was riding piggyback and his head rested on the ANBU's shoulder. "Yugao-chan?"

"Yes, Naruto?" Yugao blinked in surprise at hearing his voice and looked back to meet his blue eyes.

She was not wearing her mask for some reason and the pale moonlight shined down upon her beautiful face. The wind ruffled her purple tresses as she leaped through the rooftops and her warm brown eyes shone with concern for him. Naruto kept staring into her eyes for a few seconds before asking. "What's going on?"

"I'm taking you home," Yugao replied without missing a beat.

Naruto went silent at the thought of home. Home meant Kushina and he wasn't ready to face her so soon. But it would be suspicious if he didn't want to go to his apartment. Maybe he could escape once Yugao dropped him off? With plans of escape running through his mind, Naruto rested his face on her back again and her scent filled his nostrils. "You smell nice."

Yugao stumbled upon a rooftop at the sudden compliment before righting herself. "Thank you."

Naruto went silent again and Yugao assumed that he had fallen asleep again. So, it came as a surprise to her when he spoke up again in an inaudible tone.

"Do you know that I had a crush on you, Yugao-chan?" Naruto said in alcohol induced haze. Yugao shook her head in answer. "It was before I even knew how beautiful you were under that mask."

Yugao blushed at his words and stopped as his apartment came into view. Naruto got down from her back once she approached the door and they turned to face each other. Yugao could only watch as Naruto lifted his hand and slid a bang of purple hair behind her ear.

Naruto sighed as he stared at her angelic face. "Why couldn't I have fallen for you first, Yugao-chan?"

Before she could make sense of his words, Naruto placed his lips on hers in a sensual kiss. She was surprised by the sudden feel of his warm lips locking with hers but she didn't push him away immediately. She knew that he was in pain and his intoxication wasn't helping matters but even she was a damaged individual starved for affection and this kiss was the first instance of loving human intact she was experiencing since her fiance's death.

She could taste the sake that lingered on his lips and her conscious warred with the sensations that his kiss was igniting within her. But being in ANBU for nearly a decade had already screwed with her morals and the fact it was Naruto kissing her made it harder for her to resist. After a moment of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he slid a hand around her waist and kissed him back just as passionately. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, moving his hand from his waist to her ass.

Yugao moaned into his mouth as he squeezed her rump but a voice in her mind reminded that he was only doing this because he was drunk. She didn't want him to wake up tomorrow and regret his actions. She was about to break the kiss when the door of the apartment opened.

Kushina stood at the entrance, staring at them in shock.

Yugao was the first one to break the kiss and Naruto almost looked hurt by her action, at least until he saw his mother by the door. His alcohol-addled brain lowered his inhibitions to the point that he blurted the out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Kaa-chan! You remember Yugao-chan, right?" Naruto placed an arm around Yugao's shoulders, dragging her closer to him. Kushina twitched at their closeness, her anger almost simmering to a boiling point. Naruto noticed her silence and continued talking in an oblivious manner. "Isn't she really pretty?"

Kushina remained quiet but her purple-eyed glare was now focused on the purple-haired ANBU. Yugao, for her part, was hoping that the ground would open up and swallow her. This wasn't how expected her first meeting with the in-laws to go. Maybe the leader of a terrorist organization could attack the village at the moment out of revenge and then, they could forget about the whole thing? A woman could hope.

Naruto, on the other hand, was still too drunk to perceive the tension in the air. Seeing the two women he liked romantically staring at each other with such intensity, combined with the lingering feelings from the kiss, was giving him weird ideas...and he wasn't at all afraid to voice them.

"...Am I the only one seeing the potential for a threesome?"

Author's Note: I hate cliffhangers as a matter of principle but it's such a perfect point to end things at, you know? Don't worry, I won't turn it into a drama. It's Romance first and Humor second.

Short Chapter but I'll post another one within a few days. Don't forget to Review!