There's a Reason He Doesn't Sleep

A contract

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.'