Monsters

Monsters Need Curtains

Naruto eventually settled on simply walking through the market looking for a fabric merchant from out of town. On his way, he stumbled on a small booth with beautiful masks on display, each one was in the shape of a different animal, white with blood orange detailing that Naruto couldn't help but admire.

That was until the mask vendor noticed him. He barked something generic that Naruto had heard a million times before, and picked him up roughly by the back of his neck like a stray dog and threw I'm to the center of the street. He managed to land on his shoulder, so he didn't have any complaints. Then the mask that he had been admiring was thrown at his head. Decent wood, he noted, blinking back the throbbing his forehead now felt.

He picked up himself, then the mask. "Keep it." The vendor spat. "It's a demon, same as you." And Naruto held the fox mask close to his chest. He looked around to crowded eyes, eyes that were waiting for some second shoe to drop, like he were a timed bomb. He hated those eyes, fear, disgust, anger, grief, he'd never seen an adult look at him with anything less. Even Jiji looked at him like he was a tragedy and a burden. "Why do you all look at me like that?" He was ashamed by how his voice shook as he held the mask to his chest tighter. "What did I do?" Fear, disgust, anger, grief, not a single glance held the answer and everyone surrounding him stayed two meters away like he would hurt them. Everything was spinning and he felt the bruise on his side, the lump on his head, the clothes on his back that he saved up for months to get. Then everything felt foggy, all that was there were eyes. His breathing got harder --not here, damn it-- his hands shook so he pressed them closer, and he ran, mask in hand.

He knew how to get to his apartment blind and deaf, he knew every turn and every alley to stay hidden. He was always great at hiding. He made it back to his apartment, slamming the door closed and falling to the floor. His breathing came out in ragged pants and echoes of those eyes were all that filled his vision as he gripped his hair and curled in on himself. He didn't know why this was happening, the same thing that happened today happened a hundred times before, he's had it worse so why won't his hands stop shaking? He's not the star in some tragedy, he doesn't have an excuse for this.

Then suddenly the sun started to set and his apartment got darker and he remembered he wasn't alone. He froze, painfully aware of the gentle creak of his bedroom door opening. He didn't dare look up, people weren't supposed to see this, they weren't supposed to know. He's not supposed to be like this, he's supposed to be strong. He didn't hear Sasuke move but he felt an ice-cold finger poke his shoulder, unknowingly where a large purple bruise was forming under his sleeve, and he bit back a flinch with practiced ease. He didn't react, didn't look up, didn't make a noise.

The cold hand tried to settle more on his shoulder, working weirdly like an ice pack but Naruto pulled away. "M' fine, I'll figure out the curtains tomorrow." He was ashamed at how his voice shook. Eventually the presence left and Naruto composed himself after an amount of time he couldn't pinpoint, like he always did, and slowly pushed himself up before going to get dinner.

The minutes it took for the cup of ramen to cook seemed to stretch on for hours, he never felt good after that. It didn't help that now he'd have to explain whatever that was when he wasn't even sure himself, he never got the nerve to ask because what if it was something that everyone but him knew? Just another in the long list of things that are so common in everyone else they highlight how distant he is, like how he doesn't do math the way the teacher explains, can't read more than simple kanji because you're supposed to learn that before the academy. He was supposed to learn from his parents.

He grit his teeth. Seriously? Another pity party? He has a kid in his room that's literally dead, who's whole family's dead and he's trying to feel sorry for himself? He hated when his mind wandered there, nothing productive could come of it, no one else cares, he shouldn't either. When he's Hokage he'll earn acknowledgement and he'll do it because he isn't wallowing in front of a cup of ramen.

He lifted the lid and stirred the now cooked dinner. He slowly opened the door to his room and shut it tight back behind him, wary, but not hesitant. "Sasuke?" He asked into the darkness that filled every crack in the walls. Slowly a pale figure revealed itself, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor. Red eyes looked up to blue and without a word, the live boy sat in front of the other.

"Do you eat anything?" The ghost shook his head. "Well, guess that makes sense." The silence that followed was an uncomfortable one, as Naruto slowly ate him ramen in the dark. "It probably gets pretty boring here when you can't go outside." The blond's words cut through the silence, and Sasuke nodded.

Naruto tapped his chopsticks to his chin in thought.

"I saw you hold a pencil earlier, you think you could hold a cloak?" He asked before grabbing the blanket off his bed to answer the question. Sasuke grabbed the blanket from his hands before neatly using it to cover his head and torso.

'You're the only one that can see me, idiot, wouldn't it be a little weird to have a blanket floating around on its own?' The ghost mouthed, trying to be more conscious of the lack of a voice he had to deal with.

Naruto just grinned. "You're almost as good as me at transformations, yeah?" Sasuke mouthed 'better' but either the blond didn't notice or ignored him. "Transform yourself with the cloak into someone else that people can see!"

Red eyes rolled in exasperation. 'And if I run into who I'm transformed as?'

"What do you mean 'who you're transformed as', don't transform as anyone, just make someone up." Naruto said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sasuke raised one eyebrow. 'You can't just transform into someone you made up, you'll just look like a bad drawing.'

"Oh I beg to dipper!" '*Differ*' The ghost corrected silently, glaring at Naruto. "You can totally transform into someone you made up, how do you think I perfected my sexy jutsu?" He mocked, and Sasuke scowled.

Pale hands did a sign and a cloud of smoke revealed... a bad drawing. Naruto fell onto his back laughing while Sasuke scowled with a mouth that seemed to be made of one line.

The transformation dissipated and the ghost scowled at the deeply amused Naruto. He barked what would have probably been an insult if it weren't so distorted and ecoey and the blonde's laughter stopped dead.

Sasuke quieted, closing his lips tightly while Naruto sat up. "Oh, that was funny!" The blond tried to play off. "You looked like you were made of crayon!" He tried to tease, but a short 'tap' was all that echoed through the dark room.

He looked down and blinked at the droplet of blood on his floor, he wiped under his nose and it came out red. "Hah!" He laughed weakly, still trying to lift the tension. "Guess you're sexy jutsu worked, my nose is bleeding like a fool." Sasuke's expression stayed in slight concern.

"Well I'm gonna go wash up." He stood with one hand under his nose and left for the bathroom.

When he came back, Sasuke was gone, so he sighed and went to bed.