"You are my sunshine..."
All I could hear was the rain pounding down and a voice singing to me.
"My only sunshine..."
I knew who it was. He was the only one in the vicinity. Who else could it be? The others... the others don't know about this. I'm just sad it happened.
"You make me happy..."
I guess... I guess I can't change it now, can I?
"When skies are gray..."
I look up through almost-cloudy eyes and take a deep look at a face that was crying. A face that never cried was shedding tears for me.
All I can hear is the sound of the rain pounding... and him singing a song to me.
!~!
"Team A head to the west, Team B to the east. Me and Team C will head North," One Shikamaru Nara ordered the lot of us. It was an odd team consisting of mainly Jounin but one ANBU Black Op and one Medical Ninja was to be on every divided squad. That made three ANBU Black Ops and three Medical Ninjas. I was one of the ANBU Black Ops. After three years away from Konoha, I took my Chuunin exams and passed them. I took my Jounin exams and passed them. Then I applied to be an ANBU Black Op and underwent the training.
I admit, back then, I was fairly stupid. I was reckless, headstrong, hot-tempered, and just plain idiotic. My three years of training sharpened me physically, emotionally, and mentally. I was stronger, faster, and smarter... but, I was also a lot more bitter and apathetic as a result. I wasn't the cheerful kid I used to be. Gone were the jokes and cheerful smiles. Here was serious business and dead eyes that saw straight through my enemy's core. Of course, I was loyal to Konoha. I always would be... but I was one of their most powerful ninjas now. I wondered if it was because I stopped feeling everything. I owed my thanks to-
"Why are you spacing out?" Shikamaru looked at me with a questioning glance. I shake my head and put on my fox-shaped Kabuki mask. I was wearing the robes to conceal every part of my body, so I pulled the hood up to conceal my hair. When a fight broke out, I'd discard it post-haste.
"Sorry. Won't happen again," I stated with a dry tone. He gave me a sympathetic look as the Medical Ninja on our Team C gave me a worried look.
"Hey-" She started to speak but Shikamaru shook his head.
"We're on borrowed time. This can wait until later," Shikamaru stated as he signaled for Teams A and B to head out. That left me, him, our medical ninja, and one other Jounin on our team. An invaluable member at that. To be honest, it was Team Seven all over again... but without one of the members. He went AWOL three years ago. I swore I'd get him back; but now I'm debating if it'll be alive.
The fourth member of our group came back from scouting ahead. It was weird to be in the field with him and for us to be the same rank; though with me and the other one being specialists.
"Kakashi, what's the status report?" Shikamaru asked as we all geared up to head north.
"Nothing as far as I could detect. But if it's some kind of genjutsu, I couldn't detect it. Sakura's much better at detecting those than I am," said man reported. "No traps and no enemies. It's a bit strange; best to be on guard."
The medical ninja, Sakura, nodded and prepared a few quick antidotes in case we were poisoned by an ambush. Kind of like when we all went to the Land of Waves. "I'll let you know if I detect any genjutsus in play as we progress." Shikamaru nodded the affirmative.
"I'll take point," Shikamaru stated. "Kakashi, cover my rear. Naruto, Sakura. I want you both concealed in the trees."
I nodded and immediately hid within the shadows of the trees along with my teammate.
It's funny whenever I thought about it. I used to be the Number One Hyperactive Loud-Mouthed Knucklehead Ninja. Now I'm not even a person. I'm a weapon. It was Jiraiya's training that drove me to this. That last fight with one Uchiha Sasuke mentally stunted me. I drove myself to this. I trained with the Kyuubi inside my mind... and in turn, I traded away my humanity. I'd always thought I'd keep it. But I was wrong. I was dead wrong.
As we approached the enemy base, I could sense it. His chakra. I knew that chakra anywhere. I'd fought against it enough over the years. Uchiha Sasuke was here and I was gonna find him, with or without my comrades. It sounds like a terrible thing to say, but he and I have a score to settle.
Part of me wants to bring him home and let the elders punish him... but the other part of me just wants to kill him. Like I said, I'm a weapon. I lost all traces of my humanity the moment I decided to train myself inside my own head. Whether that was a mistake or not, I still don't know. But it has made me a sharper ninja; possibly a killing machine if angered.
"This is it," I heard Shikamaru mumble as we closed in on the entrance to the base. "I guess this is where it was located. Naruto, do you sense anything?" Because I was a jinchuuriki, I had heightened senses. I could smell better, taste better, see farther and clearer, hear the quietest noises, and feel the very air move. I closed my eyes to listen and extend my senses. I didn't want them to know that Sasuke was down there. He was mine.
"I hear multiple footsteps. I'm going to guess about four people. Maybe five. It smells putrid. Death and decay. A lot of dead bodies. I'm going to go ahead and assume this was once Orochimaru's lair. One he used in which to conduct his twisted experiments in his attempts to claim longevity," I reported back to the leader of this mission. Though I was a specialist, and a higher ranking one at that, I was still to follow the leader's orders.
"Okay, follow me. I'll take point again, Naruto and Sakura cover my flanks, Kakashi you get rear again," Shikamaru ordered out. I held up my hand.
"Wait. Isn't it weird that we didn't encounter a single trap, enemy, or genjutsu? And then they're just here? I think they're baiting us. They know we know they're down there. They're waiting for us. This is clearly a trap," I pointed out and they all nodded in agreement. "Let me take point while you and Kakashi cover my flanks and Sakura takes rear. If anything, we should protect our medical ninja. She's the only one that can help us out if things get hairy. And I mean that in both support and offense."
They all looked at each other before Shikamaru nodded. "Alright. Good plan. You take point and the rest of us will take the positions you suggested."
I knew it. It WAS a trap. But... it wasn't a trap for just Leaf Village ninjas. It was a trap for me. Sasuke had deliberately used his chakra to lure me to the front of the line. But I guess he expected me alone. Expected me to charge head-first into battle like I would've all those years ago.
Oh Sasuke. How naive you are, now. You don't know who I am anymore. But you're still you. Sadistic and cruel, yet still so naive to anything in this world. It's kind of sad, really. That you haven't changed much at all in these past three years. Meanwhile, I'm on a whole other scale than you now.
Poor, pathetic Sasuke.
!~!
"Don't die... I never wanted this. Please don't die." Permanently red eyes look at me, teary and full of grief.
My once dull eyes have a sudden spark of life in them... at the end of my own life. It's kind of ironic. "Well, whose fault is this anyways, 'Suke?" I cough a little, blood dripping from my mouth. I'm growing weary and tired. "Please don't stop singing. I wanna hear it to the very end."
"Naruto..." He closed his Sharingan eyes and held me close to him.
"Careful, the blood will soak into your white clothes..."
"I don't care..."
"Sorry."
!~!
Explosions rattled the wall outside as we entered. All four of us looked behind us to find the entrance had closed in on us.
"Called it."
"Shut up."
"Alright, we're taking this extra slow. I've already signaled the other teams with the one-way communicator that we found the base and are in trouble, so we should have backup soon," Shikamaru stated calmly and nodded to me. "Let's go."
I nodded and led the others, slowly, further in. I was careful to check for traps on my way forward, but came up empty. "This is too suspicious. I wonder what they're playing at."
As soon as I said that, a wall came up and cut me off from the rest of the group.
"Naruto!" I could hear Sakura scream my name out and I had to roll my eyes a bit.
"I'm fine-"
"We're not!" I heard Shikamaru's voice ring through along with three others.
"Juugo, Karin, and Suigetsu. I'm guessing that bastard Uchiha put you up to this," I snarled out, a little disgusted at their interference, but not too terribly much.
"Orders are orders," Suigetsu cackled from the other side.
"Whatever. I trust my team to dispose of you, I'm goin' on ahead," I shrugged and did just that. I heard Kakashi call my name but I continued forward.
I came upon a vast room and stopped. My search had ended. Sasuke was standing right there in the middle of the room.
"So, what business do you have with me, Uchiha?" I tried to isolate myself from him, make myself an impenetrable wall. I wanted to be cold and distant... and detached from my traitorous best friend.
"'Uchiha'? How formal of you, usuratonkachi," Sasuke smirked at me, but my face remained stoic.
"That does not answer my question. Why isolate me from the others? Do you wish to end it all in this little room?" My voice was sharp and my tongue quick. My eyes narrowed as I stared my former comrade down.
"I don't know, Naruto. Will this be the end? Or will you let me get away again, like you always do?" Sasuke gave a condescending chuckle but stopped when a kunai flew passed him, cutting his cheek. His eyes widened a bit.
"The next one won't miss, I guarantee that," I growled out, getting into a fighting stance. "I'm not taking prisoners and from here on, no one shall escape. You're coming back to Konoha, dead or alive. You choose." My voice was as cold as ice; so cold, in fact, that Sasuke shivered a bit.
"What happened to you, dobe?" He mocked, trying to jeer me on. I wouldn't bite. I was better than that now.
"Kurama taught me a few things."
"Who's Kurama?" He asked, wary as he took a defensive stance.
I pointed to my head as my eyes glowed red and the Kyuubi's chakra flowed out and engulfed my body. "Why the demon that resides within me? The very reason all of Konoha hated me. You see, I thought, I might as well let a demon train me. Surely, a demon is much stronger than a human." I gave a wicked smile. "But to become a demon, you have to pay the price."
"And what price is that?" Sasuke glowered at me.
In a second I was on him, pinning him to the wall with a kunai knife. I heard him shriek in pain and felt a thrill run down my spine. "Why, I traded my humanity my dear Sasuke. As long as I remain loyal to Konoha, I don't care what I am. Human, demon, weapon. It's all the same really in this kind of world."
Sasuke shoved me off him and I landed a few feet away, the twisted grin still caressing my face. "So... let's play Sasuke. A wanna-be demon versus an actual one."
!~!
"You'll never know dear..."
I take my hand and wipe away a tear that falls from Sasuke's eyes.
!~!
"Ne~! Sasuke! Do you love me?"
"What the hell are you goin' on about, usuratonkachi?!" Sasuke looked at me with a bewildered expression, face slightly red, ear-tips too.
"Do you love me?"
"Who could love a dobe like you, baka?!" He looked away with red cheeks, still.
"Oi! That's mean... you know almost everyone hates me..." I pouted and looked down at the grass I was sitting on. Rarely did I feel vulnerable and Sasuke's words kind stung.
Sasuke made a face that resembled an apologetic one and sighed. He put a hand on my head and averted my questioning gaze.
"I... could love a dobe like you... baka..."
I grinned mischievously and let out a foxlike laugh. "I knew it! Sasuke loves me!"
!~!
"How much I love you..."
"Ne~ Sasuke... Do you love me like back then...?" I smile at him and he clings to me more.
"A love like that doesn't just disappear, idiot..." He looks at me with grief-filled eyes and I smile more. I rest into him, eyes closing.
"'Suke... 'm tired... Can I sleep now...?"
"You should wait until you're properly in bed, usura-... Naruto..."
I give a small laugh before coughing up more blood. "Aw shucks... you callin' me Naruto instead of 'usuratonkachi', I'm flattered."
"This isn't a joking matter!" Sasuke snaps at me and I just smile. Smile like I used to before I became a monster.
"Aw, Sasuke. It's just death... in our profession, people die all the time... what's another one on top of that...?" Sasuke glares at me and I take the hint.
"You're not allowed to die, you're Naruto Uzumaki... the next hokage, remember? What happened to that?!" His voice cracks as he speaks, the rain masking his tears some.
"That dream died a long time ago, 'Suke... besides, the people will be relieved, one less monster to worry about," I sigh. "I traded away my humanity, this is the punishment for seeking power..."
"Naruto..."
!~!
How could I have forgotten the bond I shared with Sasuke...? How could I have forgotten all of that?
I staggered backwards as Sasuke's chidori blasted through my chest. His eyes widened as my blood splattered everywhere. He withdrew his arm hastily as I went flying to the ground. We had broken out of our containment and went to fight alone in the woods somewhere.
I didn't remember much. I had gone full beast mode at that point and let my instincts overcome me, but then...
Then I remembered the love Sasuke and I shared at one point and I came to. I was my old self again. I also left my defenses wide open for Sasuke's attack. Something neither of us were expecting.
"Oh..."
That's when I heard a sound I never thought possible.
I heard Sasuke scream in utter distraught. "Naruto!"
He's screamed my name before. But never like this. Never so painfully or regrettably.
"Ah... it's... raining..."
!~!
"Naruto, why isn't Kurama healing you like he normally does?"
I shrug and look up at Sasuke. "I don't know... I can't hear him anymore either. I think this really is it."
"No... I... why didn't you get out the way or block?! Why did you just stand there!?" Sasuke closes his eyes tightly.
"I... remembered when you told me you loved me..."
Sasuke looks at me again, the same love from back them in his Sharingan eyes.
"Sasuke... do me a favor."
"What...?" His voice is shaking more than ever.
"Kiss me one last time..."
Sasuke nods and leans forward, placing his lips against mine. His lips linger for a second before he pulls away. Sasuke and I have always had a bittersweet love. We were once-upon-a-time lovers that quickly became enemies because of a catastrophe during our Chuunin exams. But, even in my demonic-like state, I always loved Sasuke. Even when I tried to be cold, I always loved him. I could never kill him. Ironically, the man I could never kill... killed me instead.
"Thank you..." I let out a final breath as I close my eyes for the last time. I can feel myself get colder and my body grow heavier. It's dark. The last thing I hear is Sasuke calling for me.
"Naruto... Naruto? ...NARUTO!"
"Please don't take my sunshine away..."
Thank you so much for reading this! It took me several months to shell this out.
Created: September 20, 2016
Almost an entire year!
Thanks again for reading!
Your Author,
Nova