Seven Tails
Disclaimer: Eyni, meani, minei, mo; no I don't own Naruto.
Characters: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Kabuto, Shikamaru, Ino, Iruka, Ten-ten, Neji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Orochimaru, Itachi, Jiraya, Rock Lee, Ritsu(oc)
Content: Rated R (Sex, and language), Sasunaru (Lemon!)
Neo: Freezes with her hands above the keyboard in confusion I never thought that I would get this far. Man, this is my first fanfic!
Mestor: It's about time too! You took long enough to write the damn thing.
Loki: Yeah! Type! Type like the wind!
Van: Shakes his head and tries to look cool
Chinook: I was waiting for this. Now type so I can read!
Naruto/Sasuke: Glance at each other in fear
Chapter 1: Salty Ramen
White light blinded the eyes of the young ninja lying on the hospital bed. Naruto didn't really remember what happened, but he knew that it had something to do with that mega – freak Orochimaru. Every bone in his body hurt, like he had been hit with thousands of kunai all at once. When he tried to move his right arm to block the obnoxious light from his eyes; he found that he couldn't.
"Kakashi – sensei! Naruto's awake already!" that was Sakura's voice. Normally he loved to hear her voice, but right now it gave him a headache (or at least more of one than he already had).
He groaned and tried to tune her out as she yelled over and over down the hall for their eternally late sensei. Naruto's mind was racing, trying desperately to dredge up a memory of what had landed him in the hospital. So far the only memory he had was that it was Orochimaru, but he wasn't quite sure what had happened.
The memory he had was that he had been training himself to walk on water, like the ero – sennin had kept yelling at him about. Go figure he was attacked when he was training the way that pervert told him to. But unfortunately after the training it got blurry. Orochimaru had come from somewhere, they had gotten into a fight somehow, and from the look of it he had lost. That was the extent of Naruto's memory, and none of it was in great detail. He couldn't remember what either of them had said to one another, or how the battle had even gone.
"Crap!" Naruto whispered to himself under his breath. He was frustrated and angry at himself for not being able to remember.
All of a sudden a fist connected with his head at what he swore was a mach 5 speed. He'd felt that fist before, it had to be Sakura. But this time it didn't hurt as much (which was amazing since breathing hurt).
"What the hell was that for?" Naruto roared, turning his head painfully to look at his pink – haired teammate.
Sakura's normally pretty face was twisted with rage, pity, and above all worry and sadness, "You baka! You know you weren't strong enough to fight Orochimaru alone!" tears ran down her cheeks, "If Sasuke hadn't been lucky enough to be there to pull you out of the river; you wouldn't be here right now!"
Shock pooled over Naruto's face, I almost drowned? How did that happen? I can swim! And why did it have to be Sasuke that saved me?
Sakura didn't notice his surprise, "Who do you think you are? You're only a Genin! You can't fight Orochimaru! None of us can, even Jiraya has a problem fighting him and he's one of the three! What if you had died? What then?"
"Nobody would care." Naruto whispered so that Sakura couldn't here him. He tried to sit up and look at her, but a strong, gentle had pushed him back down.
Kakashi – sensei's face came into view, "You shouldn't push yourself Naruto, you really took a beating. You aren't supposed you move around a lot, doctor's orders. You should probably take it easy too, I don't want you up and around so Sakura has a reason to beat you up for your mistake."
"I don't remember what happened." Naruto said quietly, "I don't remember anything."
Darkness settled in front of Naruto's eyes for the second time that day. The last thing he heard was Kakashi – sensei yell his name. Peaceful, painless, blackness claimed his already worn mind.
Sasuke was leaning against the wall in the hall outside Naruto's room. He had been on edge for the last hour. Naruto had been in bad shape when he had found him; he had been lucky to even get him breathing again. But somehow it took this small incident to prove to Sasuke that the shorter blonde boy meant something to him.
When he had seen Naruto just lying on the bottom of the river his heart had stopped.
Flashback: One hour ago
Sasuke was out on one of his many walks by himself. It was a bright shiny day with a nice breeze and flying birds (That looked an awful lot like the summons birds that jounins used). It felt nice to be by himself so that he could think about things. He always liked to think to himself, but it was hard to do when Naruto and the others were around.
The raven haired ninja sighed, in all actuality, even though they were noisy sometimes (okay, all the time), it still felt comfortable to be around them. He would of course never admit that, that was just the way it had to be. He would never be an outgoing social person.
He had decided at some point during the walk to go down near the river because not that many people went there. The added calm feeling was just a bonus that he had come to find during his times down there.
This didn't hold true however when he found Jiraya training Naruto to walk on water. Or just about any time he found those two together at all. Sasuke shook his head; those two were like one giant ticking time bomb, set to go off whenever Naruto opened his flapping loose jaw.
However, most of the time the rushing water sound calmed Sasuke down right after he got into fights. It was something that he had just sort of stumbled across, but he didn't mind it as much as he did other things (like, say, Naruto).
I don't know why Naruto got on my nerves earlier, what he said was really true. I do have a problem with teamwork. I hate working with anyone that I see as weaker than me. But after all this time, I don't really think that Naruto is weaker than me anymore. Sasuke thought to himself.
Suddenly something orange caught his eye. Turning his head towards the river he caught a glimpse again.
What the hell? Sasuke thought.
He walked closer slowly and looked into the deep rushing water. Sasuke's heart stopped dead in his chest when he realized that what he had seen was Naruto's orange jacket. The smaller ninja was lying face down on the bottom of the river, and he wasn't moving.
Without a thought Sasuke dove into the water and swam as fast as he could to Naruto's unconscious form. Grabbing him around the chest he pulled him up out of the water onto the ground again.
Rolling him onto his stomach Sasuke slammed his hands against Naruto's back and water gushed out of the boy's mouth. Repeating it, Sasuke then rolled Naruto onto his back and put his ear over his heart, desperately searching for a heartbeat.
When he found it, it was weaker than it should have been. Heart racing he checked to see if the blonde was still breathing and found that his breaths were shallow.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled at him, hoping to break him out of it.
But Naruto didn't move; his shallow breaths kept coming steadily. His face was emotionless and smooth, but bruises, cuts, and gashes ranged up and down his body. The worst was his right arm, which looked like it had been broken in more than a couple of places.
Grabbing him, Sasuke shot off as fast as he could for the hospital. His heart was pounding in his chest with every step he took.
To believe that he had fought with the blonde the last time he had seen him. They had gone away from each other angry on a level that they hardly ever reached.
Sasuke shook his head; that didn't matter now. Some part of his mind kept screaming at him for never telling Naruto that he really did care. Now he might never get the chance to do that, never again…and it hurt.
End Flashback:
Closing his dark eyes Sasuke sighed and tried to listen to what was happening now. From the yelling he'd heard earlier, Sasuke had a feeling that Naruto was awake. Sakura was giving him a piece of her mind from the sound of it, telling him that he was a baka for taking on Orochimaru himself. Kakashi – sensei had finally shown up, walking faster than normal. Due most likely to the nature and supposed cause of Naruto's injuries.
If Orochimaru was indeed involved then Konoha was in more trouble than they had bargained for.
Now why can't you move this fast normally? Sasuke mused when his teacher passed him by.
He sighed lightly and straightened up to take the rest of his walk near the river. "Crisis averted", and all.
He only got halfway down the hallway when he heard Sakura call his name.
"Sasuke!" the pink haired Genin yelled, she was running towards him.
His heart leapt into his throat, but Sasuke kept his face emotionless. That was just what he needed, for Sakura to find out that he was worried about Naruto. She would never speak to Naruto again, not to mention blame him for something that wasn't his fault because he couldn't control it.
"Naruto passed out again and Kakashi – sensei's going to find a doctor. He wasn't acting like his normal loud self either. Are you sure it was Orochimaru that he was fighting?" Sakura asked earnestly, "For once I'm really worried about him; Naruto doesn't act sullen or depressed."
Sasuke sighed, "Yeah, he was fighting Orochimaru. Why?" he was slowly reverting to his usual self, it wasn't a real stretch, but he felt sort of loose for the first time in an hour.
Kakashi – sensei chose that time to walk by them, looking as mellow as ever despite Naruto's brush with death. Things like this must have happened all of the time to him.
"Kakashi – sensei! I'll go with you!" Sakura yelled, running to catch up to their teacher.
Great, now what do I do? I can't leave Naruto alone, what if he wakes up again? Sasuke thought tiredly. He didn't know what would happen between the two of them if Naruto woke up while they were alone.
Slowly he turned and walked back to Naruto's room. It looked almost like the shorter ninja was asleep, but Sasuke knew better and his stomach knotted tight. He walked over to the hospital bed and gazed down at his teammate and greatest rival.
Reaching out he trailed the back of his fingers over Naruto's whiskered cheek, "Please wake up.", he said quietly.
A light groan came from the back of Naruto's throat and the ninja turned his head to look at Sasuke. His bright blue eyes were dazed and tired, but their spark was present. Something behind them told Sasuke what he wanted to hear, even if it wasn't out loud.
"Still sore that I saved you, eh?" Sasuke asked quietly, sure that Naruto heard his heart hammering.
This is hard, it isn't fair. Sasuke growled to himself.
"Right, just leave me alone." Naruto turned his head away, a sad, almost depressed look pulling the ninja's eyebrows together.
Oh Naruto, Sasuke moaned in his head, Sakura was right, you really aren't yourself.
He reached out to touch Naruto's whisker marked skin again. His calloused fingers tingled and he stopped before he could get there. It felt like something was uncoiling in his stomach, burning with white fire.
Naruto flinched and turned his head just as Sasuke turned and ran. He ran down the hallway and out of the hospital. He didn't stop running until he got to the same part of the river that he'd left so quickly an hour earlier.
His heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. This hurt so much, so was he the only one that felt this way between the two of them? Or did Naruto feel the same way and just hide it well?
Either way, the emotions running through him were tearing at his heart. If he didn't let it out soon he would probably explode from the sheer force of the emotions.
"Why?" Sasuke whispered to an unseen watcher, "I don't like him, I don't like Naruto!" he fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands, "No." he whispered weakly.
"Sasuke?" Naruto called after him. The dark ninja didn't come back, "What was that about?"
Naruto sighed and sat up, he felt okay for someone who nearly drowned an hour ago. The Kyubi was most likely the reason for that; he always had noticed how fast he healed when he was wounded. Of course when he was younger he thought it was just normal. After all, he had never known a time when he didn't heal fast and there was never anyone around to tell him it wasn't normal.
Guess I can thank the monster for that. Naruto mused.
He rolled out of bed and landed on his feet; his legs shook slightly but he was relatively okay. Looking at his right arm Naruto sighed, it was still broken, but it wasn't so bad considering. He'd just have to wait until it healed in a day or two. Then he could go back to practicing.
Right now he had to find Sasuke. Something had been wrong, usually Sasuke would treat him coldly, but just then his eyes were soft and sad. Almost like he was worried about Naruto and wanted to tell him something.
Naruto knew that he had feelings for his dark rival, but he also knew that nothing could ever come of them. So he had bottled them and that often made it hard for him to deal with Sasuke for long periods of time. Now, however, he was just worried.
What's wrong Sasuke? What did you want to tell me? Naruto pleaded silently in his head. Why did you run away?
Pulling on his slightly damp clothes, Naruto opened the window in his room and jumped (somewhat ungracefully) to the ground six feet below.
"Ow, ow, ouch!" Naruto yelped in pain.
Struggling to move he stumbled forward and ran off towards the place he remembered being last. It took him a long time to get anywhere close to it, his muscles were sore when he got there as well. Running with one arm against his chest made it harder to keep his balance than normal.
Naruto stopped short of the river. He had heard something odd and felt he was much safer further away. Something in his gut told him it was okay and he peeked around the corner to see what was making that strange strangled sound (he had never been one for listening to his brain).
He saw Sasuke kneeling next to the river splashing water on his face. There was something very wrong with this scene. For one Sasuke's hands were shaking and for another more water was coming off of his face than he threw on. In Sasuke's favor he wasn't really shaking as bad as he could be.
Turning back around Naruto put his back against the tree and rested his head on the solid surface, a disgruntled look pooling across his face. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what was wrong with his dark rival. Naruto felt his breath hitch as he realized why the pale boy would cry like he was. Not many people could even think about caring about him that much.
"I know you're there Naruto." Came Sasuke's broken and hitched voice, "You don't have to hide."
"Oh…shit!" Naruto whispered. He slowly walked out from behind the tree and inched towards Sasuke.
The other ninja still had his back turned towards him. Sasuke's hands didn't move anymore and he wasn't shaking anymore either.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Nothing, nothing at all." Sasuke snapped, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Naruto inched closer again, "But you never cry. What the hell's wrong with you?"
Sasuke dropped his head and slumped his shoulders tiredly. He looked so sad that Naruto reached out and hugged him before he knew what he was doing. The taller ninja froze and it almost felt like he wasn't breathing; for a moment time held still, not daring to move. Then Sasuke dropped his head and started dashing water on his face again.
Naruto's body almost screamed at him for being so close to Sasuke. He had tried to avoid this for so long, yet here he was all the same, hugging Sasuke like it was normal.
"Please tell me what's wrong." Naruto said, realizing that he didn't sound like himself at all.
Sasuke started to shake and tried to push Naruto away almost desperately. He was trying to get away, but it was such a weak attempt that it had absolutely no effect.
The message he was trying to get across however was conveyed clearly as crystal. Respecting his teammates space, Naruto backed off and watched Sasuke for a long moment. The taller boy wasn't facing him and now Naruto was getting a little irritated for obvious reasons.
What the hell is bugging this asshole? Naruto thought to himself. Just as he was about to ask again a loud growl assaulted his ears.
This got Sasuke's attention; the boy turned his head and looked at him with one eye. Grinning sheepishly, Naruto placed his good hand on his stomach. He realized with a little chagrin that he hadn't stayed at the hospital long enough to get anything to eat.
Course then the bill would be outrageous. Naruto berated himself. Food's never free at that place.
Shaking his head, Naruto opened his mouth to say something when suddenly the world around him heaved and rolled. With a yelp Naruto's legs buckled and his vision went black for a long moment.
When reality came swimming back he found himself staring into Sasuke's eyes. Naruto blinked a few times before he realized that his head was propped on Sasuke's legs. The ninja kneeling by him had saved him again.
Normally Naruto wouldn't have been bothered by the fact that Sasuke's eyes were staring into his. That just gave him butterflies and he would look away before Sasuke saw him turn bright red. But now, after what had just happened, it seemed really weird. He felt like all of his emotions were running rampant. It was almost abnormal.
Is this how girls feel? Damn! Where the hell did my luck suddenly go! Naruto snarled in his head. The last person he wanted to save him kept saving him today! He doesn't want me to touch him at all, but he keeps saving me! What the hell!
Levering himself with his good arm Naruto got to a sitting positions and narrowed his eyes when he felt Sasuke's arm behind his shoulders. It wasn't that it bothered him really, just that he still wasn't used to human contact. It was strange because he had never had loving parents that would hug him, or siblings to play with. So he wasn't used to it (especially when he was on the receiving end of it).
"Bone head, the next time you want to run away from the hospital make sure you've been there for more than an hour!" Sasuke said with none of his normal vehemence.
This hit Naruto right where it hurt: his wallet. That was one of his weak points that he tried to keep secret from other people. Of course Sasuke didn't know that and never would if Naruto had his way. How he had even managed to work off his rent and hospital bills from before he became a ninja was a mystery.
Growling, Naruto struggled to get to his feet. The world rolled again and he fell back into Sasuke's arms, startled. He had gotten to the river from the hospital without a problem before. What was so different now?
A growl met the ears of the two ninja and they both looked down at Naruto's stomach. Sasuke raised his eyebrows and looked over at Naruto quizzically. A sheepish grin met his look.
"When was the last time you ate?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto had to think for a moment, "Yesterday morning I had some cereal."
Sasuke clapped a hand over his eyes in exasperation; a sigh escaping his lips. Naruto laughed in embarrassment, not sure what to do since hi was too weakened from hunger to stand.
"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, not looking at him.
"Nani?"
"Food. What do you want?"
Now Naruto was utterly lost. Sasuke was offering him food, hands down, at no cost to him (as far as he knew). When exactly the world stopped turning and hell froze over Naruto wasn't sure. All he did know was that his heart refused to stop hammering in his chest; Sasuke had to hear it.
'Well?"
"Uhhhhhhh…Ramen…I guess."
Then Sasuke was gone in a very ninja – esque way. Without Sasuke's arm behind his back, Naruto fell to the ground again, spouting off a few of his choice words. Using one arm Naruto pulled himself over to a tree and pushed himself into a sitting position.
Thoughts about what just happened were jumbled around in his already chaotic brain. Sasuke was acting really weird and he didn't know how to act around him.
What happened to the asshole I used to know? Naruto mused.
He turned his head and gazed out at the rushing river. His brain still couldn't come up with a reason why he had gotten into that fight. It made him sad, but at the same time he was really mad at himself. Whatever had happened to make him lose his memory of the incident was starting to piss him off.
Before he could start hitting his head to attempt to jog his brain, a cup of steaming hot Ramen spun to a halt right at his feet. A pair of chopsticks fell into his lap from above and when he looked up he found Sasuke sitting in the tree branches above him. The taller ninja was looking out at the river, a strange look in his dark eyes.
Reaching out, Naruto grabbed the Ramen and popped the lid open; clicking his chopsticks together happily. Ramen just made him happy, even if he wasn't sure why. As he took his first full on slurp he felt a little of his strength seep back.
The slurping sounds from beneath him told Sasuke all he needed to know. His heart stopped beating so fast and he eased off of the tree. He had been gripping the bark tight enough to splinter it; afraid of the question Naruto had to be thinking.
Better now than never. Sasuke thought.
"So what happened earlier?" Sasuke prodded lightly.
The slurping noises beneath him stopped for a long time. Long enough, in fact, for Sasuke to worry and look down. He saw that Naruto had stopped eating in the middle of a bite; noodles still hung from his mouth, chopsticks holding on for good measure. He was staring off into space, his eyes unfocused.
Just as Sasuke was about to jump down to see if he was about to pass out again, Naruto sucked up the rest of the noodles. Without saying a word he put the Ramen down on the ground with the chopsticks resting on top of them. His head dropped, and even from his perch in the tree above him Sasuke could see that Naruto was looking at his arm.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, hopping out of the tree and coming to a rest in front of Naruto.
The blonde boy looked up at him, sadness seeping through his eyes. It felt as if Sasuke had been punched in the gut. That look made his heart hammer, a stray thought in his head telling him to get that look off of his teammates face at all costs.
"I can't remember what happened. I can barely remember who I was fighting, let alone what it was about." Naruto said simply, he shrugged his shoulders to signify that it was no big deal, "But you never told me what was bugging you."
That caught Sasuke off guard, all he could do for a few long moments was stare into Naruto's eyes as he tried to kick – start his brain. His thoughts finally came back and his heart started beating again when Naruto snapped his fingers at him.
The shorter ninja had stood up in front of Sasuke, trying to get his attention. Now Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond to this boy. He shifted his attention over to the river and felt his strong resolve crumble.
Without turning his head he looked over at Naruto to find him standing there with his left hand on his hip, a peeved look on his impish face. Sasuke's thoughts tumbled around for a moment.
He finally opened his mouth and Naruto raised his eyebrows, his expression going blank out of consideration.
Then before his mind thought up another reason for him to stop; Sasuke seized Naruto by the back of the skull and pulled him into a soft kiss. This obviously wasn't what Naruto expected to happen, because he went stiff, his eyes wide in shock. But he must have gotten over it quickly, because as Sasuke began to pull away Naruto yanked him back down into a harsh almost desperate kiss, his lips moving over Sasuke's as their tongues tangled.
When Sasuke pulled away the second time he realized that both of them were breathing hard. But that wasn't the only thought bouncing through his head.
Looking from Naruto to the Ramen and back again, Sasuke couldn't suppress a smirk, "That Ramen's pretty salty."
This made Naruto frown. He pointed a finger at Sasuke, "Oi! Don't insult the Ramen! You're the one that's salty!"
Sasuke just grinned at him.
"Not…that I'm…y'know…complaining or anything."
With a huff Naruto sat back down and began to devour the rest of his Ramen. Sasuke laughed at the blonde as he blushed around his Ramen.