Hi, everyone. This is the first Naruto fic. of mine... unless you count the YuYu Hakusho-Naruto crossover I want to destroy... I don't own Naruto. Not that it matters. I wouldn't want to, not really. But that's just me. I'm not particularly good at fight scenes, so I really don't describe the fighting well... Please, don't hold it against me. I just suck at fight scenes. That's probably why I tend not to do fights. Oh, to warn you, this fic. is Naruto-Sasuke. And now that I've finished writing this, I actually do support that pairing. Please don't read this if you don't know who Haku and Zabuza are... since I suck at fight scenes. And I left out the part about Sasuke's Sharingan, I realize now. Oh well. They're not important to the story... And, please, can someone tell me how I did with the characters? I really don't know Naruto as well I know my YYH... And I don't know why, but the author's note appears to be centered. I can't change it... Yeah... That's about it... So, enjoy "More than Human, only Human" in its re-written glory! And review? Please?
It was just like any other night in the hidden mist village. If one was sitting in the branches of the trees of the forest near Tazuna the bridge-builder's house, they would note that there was a nice, crisp night breeze and that the dark black sky was incredibly vibrant. Each of the stars was as delicate and detailed as a snowflake. The moon was full.
They would also hear heavy, tired breathing.
Two figures emerged from what was almost a path. They both took deep breaths, trying to steady their breathing and their pulse. One arm was draped around the shoulders carefully. They leaned heavily against each other, the only thing keeping them upright.
No one got this tired from training, not even from practicing the tree-climbing technique. It didn't look believable.
Their sensei would see right through them if they weren't careful.
And they would be exposed.
Still heavily panting though his breathing and pulse were beginning to settle, the one of the Uchihas turned his head to the left to look at his companion.
"Moron. ... I told you... you'd wear yourself... out." It was almost a whisper, as no one else could be allowed to hear him.
The blonde turned to look at him and smirked. It was a painful thing to do, but he tried not to let it show. "Well... you know... my nindo," he panted. "I never... go back on... my word."
Sasuke smirked back at him, a playful, loving, teasing smirk. "Heh."
They remained silent for a while longer, continuing to attempt slowing their breathing. Then they headed back to the house of Tazuna the bridge-builder.
- -
"We made it... to the top."
"Both of us."
The man called Tazuna glanced disapprovingly at the two boys. It was almost three in the morning. "I'll never understand it. All this fuss over climbing trees?"
But Sakura Haruno, who was sitting at the small table in a fuzzy pink bathrobe warming her hands with a mug of hot chocolate, smiled proudly at them even through her sleepiness.
Well, she smiled at Sasuke, anyway. "That's great." She had meant for it to be more enthusiastic, but she just couldn't manage it in this state. She lifted the mug and swallowed another mouthful.
Their sensei looked at them with his one eye, the eye that at times could see more than his single Sharingan eye. "Strange... they don't seem any different," he thought. "Their chakra should be different... but... it's... not."
And the Naruto and Sasuke he knew – or thought he knew – would never be caught dead getting along, much less physically touching.
Then he noticed how askew their clothing was, as though it had been taken off and thrown back on in a hurry.
"Were they doing what I think they were doing?"
The silver-haired shinobi stood on his one good leg and grabbed his crutches. His back was turned toward them. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Sakura, you continue to protect the bridge-builder."
"What about... us?" the blonde asked between breaths.
"I'll tell you what I want you to do in the morning." And then he started to walk away, his crutches making a rhythmic sound on the floor.
Sakura yawned, closed her sky-blue eyes, and rested her head in her arms on the table.
The bridge-builder made a sound like "hurmph" but other than that said nothing before he turned and walked away.
Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, still panting. But now that they were alone, the look they gave each other was different. It was a more loving glance, but there was also worry: Why wouldn't Kakashi-sensei tell them what it was he wanted them to do?
But they said nothing, as nothing needed to be said.
And then the two boys helped push each other to the room they shared and they fell asleep.
- -
They woke up at about one, far too tired and far too sluggish for two young and healthy boys that age.
"Meh," a half-awake Sasuke grunted to Naruto. Sasuke had awakened first and was sitting at the table.
Naruto said nothing but just sat down. Then both boys stared ahead blankly in their half-awake state.
"Oh, so now you two are awake." Kakashi's head appeared in the doorway along with that playful, joking smile of his hidden behind that mask. "I was wondering how long it would take you."
Their sensei came fully into the room. The two boys stared at him blankly.
"Well, now that you're awake, we're going to go back out and continue with the tree-climbing. How does that sound?"
His two pupils made a sound that was a cross between a grunt and a groan. They were still too tired to attempt anything else.
So soon the boys were back in the clearing, preparing to climb trees once again. The day was cold and cloudy, and the fresh air and piercing wind had made them much more awake.
They shot each other a worried glance, trying to turn their heads as little as possible. It would be obvious that they had lied about reaching the top.
It had only been half a lie, though... They had reached the top.
Just not the top of the tree.
"Students tend to perform better when they are not being watched, as it relieves some of the pressure. Now that you can get to the top of the tree when I'm not here, I want to see how well you can do with me here. Whenever you're ready."
Naruto and Sasuke swallowed hard. This wouldn't end well.
Instantaneously, they ran for the tree. Sasuke made it about halfway up the tree. He knew what his problem was, now. He was in danger of being discovered, and so his brain was working faster than ever. He was getting the amount of chakra correct, but he couldn't maintain it for long enough.
Naruto, on the other hand, didn't have that problem. His problem was still the chakra amount.
"Naruto! You aren't using enough chakra!" the Uchiha screamed as he sliced the bark of the tree with his kunai knife.
"Right. Not enough chakra." Naruto jumped up and got into position again. "Focus the chakra in my feet... More of it, this time..."
His eyes had closed while concentrating, and once he was ready and began to charge, they flew open. He got to near Sasuke's mark when the tree finally repelled him like it had Sasuke on his first try.
"Naruto! That's too much chakra!"
"Interesting..." Kakashi thought, observing everything. "They actually seem to be helping each other..."
No, they definitely weren't acting normal. There was something fishy around here, and it wasn't the waters surrounding the village.
"All right, what's going on?" the squad leader asked in his deadly serious voice. "What don't you two want me to know?"
He took two or three steps toward them, though it would have been more intimidating if he hadn't still been on crutches. The boys said nothing.
"You're acting differently today. Why?"
Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki stood side by side, one of them coldly defiant and staring straight into their sensei's eyes while the other was staring guiltily at the ground, his head slightly bent. But both of them looked like children about to be scolded for misbehaving.
That's probably because that's what they were.
"What were you two doing out here last night? Because you definitely weren't climbing trees."
"What gave us away?" the black-haired boy asked, deciding to be bold. "Was it just that we couldn't do the technique?"
"I believe that I was the one asking questions, but no. That was just one of the very obvious clues."
That shocked them both. Had they really been that obvious?
Then had Sakura, the most analytical of squad seven, noticed?
"No one has noticed but me." Kakashi continued as though he had read their minds. "The bridge-builder doesn't know enough about shinobi, and Sakura would never suspect that you two would do something like this."
That remark was like a slap in the face. Sakura would never suspect...
"Then..." Naruto swallowed. "You already know?"
"Yes," their sensei answered with a sigh. "Though, I was hoping you two would own up to it."
There was a short silence before he added, "You know, you two are really too young to be having sex."
They looked at each other guiltily out of the corner of their eyes and then back at Kakashi.
"So that is what you were doing."
Their guilt quickly turned to paralysis from shock. "But you said you knew!" the orange jumpsuit-wearing blonde screamed.
"You should never assume anything." Kakashi took a breath before continuing. "It's an interrogating tactic... Bluffing. You pretend to know more than you really do to obtain information."
"Shinobi read the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings," Sasuke muttered grudgingly.
"Exactly."
There was silence.
The Jonin sighed. "Lying about training is never a good idea. I trust you to do what you're told. You might get killed if I think you're capable of doing something you can't." He looked at them as though he wanted to say something else, but he remained silent.
The boys remained silent as well, the same memory flashing before their eyes, making them feel guilty yet again.
"I'll never let my comrades die."
"Well, since you obviously can't do the technique, keep practicing." The silver-haired shinobi started walking away. "And don't come back until you really have learned it this time."
Days passed. Kakashi occaisionally relieved Sakura of her bridge-builder duties to send her to them with food. Though he was somewhat mad at them, they were still his students, and he wasn't about to let them starve.
Even though she brought them food, they were slightly annoyed when she came. They trained only in shorts, now, and she always stayed to gawk at Sasuke, rambling on about how cool he was.
Sasuke had been, of course, the first of the two to reach the top of the tree. But Naruto still had trouble controlling his chakra, so Sasuke stayed behind to help him and to practice more himself.
- -
"I'm almost completely healed," Kakashi thought, testing the grip of his arm. "That means Zabuza is, too..."
He stood up, completely silent, even in his mind. "I wonder how Naruto and Sasuke are doing," he finally thought as he finished an inspection of himself in the mirror. "I haven't checked on them for a while."
So he left to check on them. Now free of his crutches, he could again move with the silent stealth a Jonin should possess.
Sasuke sighed. "You're still not getting it. Here, let me help you."
The Uchiha had gotten almost as good as Kakashi and could reach the top of the tree simply by walking. Now he stood parallel to the ground, only about three or four feet in the air, his hand outstretched. "Just build up your chakra and come slowly. I won't let you fall."
"Okay," Naruto answered softly with a nod. He built up his chakra as Sasuke instructed and then walked toward the tree, grabbing his teammate's hand.
Together, they walked up the tree. "See, this isn't so hard," the black-haired boy said encouragingly.
"Yeah, it's not," the other replied, his clear blue eyes widening. "I'm actually doing it."
And so the two walked up the tree and then back down, hand in hand.
"Well done," Kakashi thought before slipping away, still unnoticed.
- -
The next day, they met Zabuza, and with him was his deadly apprentice, Haku.
Naruto had overslept, grateful to be once again in a real bed. He had looked so peaceful, not even Sasuke had had the heart to disturb him.
He then arrived late to the fight. And noticing that Sasuke was in trouble, surrounded by Haku's new and strange Crystal Ice Mirror jutsu, he had no choice but to go help him.
And though Sasuke was slightly annoyed that Naruto had failed to use the element of surprise to their advantage, he was glad to see him. But he would never admit it.
- -
"It's no good." Naruto stood hunched over, panting, and wiped away some blood from the corner of his mouth. "He's too fast. I can't keep up with him."
Sasuke was in nearly the same shape, physically. "I nearly got him that time," he thought. "I'm catching on to his movements... I saw him for a second that time."
Haku looked at the two leaf village boys through the slits in his mask. "That boy... he's getting faster. I have to end this now, before he becomes a real threat..."
And so Haku threw his needles at Naruto, who braced for the pain of impact. He wouldn't be able to move fast enough, and he knew it.
But the pain of impact never came.
He looked up from his place on the ground, confused. And he saw that Sasuke was standing over him.
Sasuke had taken the blow for him.
Sasuke had saved him, the weaker of the two, even though he had known it was a trap.
"Why?" he asked after staring in amazement and horror for a few seconds.
"I don't... know. My body... moved... on its own..." And after that, he collapsed. "Moron," he whispered before closing his eyes.
Naruto stood up, clenching his fists. "Sasuke..." Then he turned on Haku.
"This must be the first time one of his comrades has died..."
"Why? What about his dreams? Just because he was against you, you had to kill him?"
"I had no choice." If the mist village boy's mask had been off, the blonde would have seen the tears now forming in his eyes. "He was an excellent warrior, truly skilled. But real shinobi are tools for killing."
Real shinobi are tools for killing.
He doesn't even care.
Real shinobi are tools for killing...
Fury starting building inside him. "I'll kill you," he swore.
The one person who understood him... the only other person who knew what it was like to be truly alone and to be separated from everyone else... gone.
What had brought them together was Sakura, actually, to be technical. The boy she adored disgusted her, and the one who liked her she ignored. That was what had started their bonding. Sakura.
Sakura, who was still completely devoting herself to protecting the bridge-builder who didn't deserve their help.
Sakura, who had no idea that Sasuke was dead.
Sakura, who would never be as sorry as Naruto, because she didn't understand his pain, didn't truly love him. She only thought she did.
A red fire began to overtake him. He could feel it filling his veins, flowing through his entire body, replacing the normal cool blue of his chakra. Unexpected power swelled within him.
"I'll kill you!"
And then he lunged.
It wasn't something the mist shinobi anticipated, a head-on attack rather than a projectile weapon. And now it was so much faster.
"His speed... what power! What kind of chakra is this? Or is it even chakra at all?"
But he remained as focused as he could, terrified though he was.
- -
Kakashi and Zabuza, locked in combat, simply stopped at the presence of a new energy.
"Must be the Uchiha boy."
"No, that can't be Sasuke! It must be... the nine-tailed fox!"
- -
Haku was working as fast as he could but now he just couldn't keep up. He noticed that Naruto's wounds were healing at an extremely accelerated rate.
"What is this boy?"
He was too tired now to continue using his Crystal Ice Mirrors. They came down and he was left vulnerable, Naruto then punching him in the face with a glowing, red fist-claw.
He did nothing to retaliate. His eyes, now that his mask was off, showed sadness and emptiness. Naruto continued to punch him.
And as they moved away from where their fight had begun, the only female around noticed the body on the ground.
Her eyes widened from fear, shock, and disbelief.
"Sasuke..."
He couldn't be dead. No. He couldn't be. She had to go to him.
She started for him, then jumped back to where she was. She had to stay focused on the mission. She had to protect the bridge-builder.
She had to go to Sasuke.
She closed her eyes as tight as she could, forcing herself to stay in position. "Put the mission ahead of your personal feelings..."
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up.
"I'll go with you. Then you aren't disobeying your sensei, right?"
Sakura's blue eyes widened with comprehension. "Right," she replied in almost a whisper, barely nodding her head. She slipped her right hand into his left and they took off running.
- -
"Why... aren't... you... fighting... back?" Naruto growled, hitting Haku as each word came out of his mouth.
Haku said nothing but merely stared at Naruto blankly.
The blonde's anger had run out, now, and he threw a half-hearted punch that completely missed. And then he stood there, breathing hard.
"Why don't you kill me?" Haku asked. "That boy... I killed him. Isn't he precious to you?"
Naruto answered with half a nod. He would never understand exactly how precious he was.
Shinobi are tools for killing.
Haku hadn't said it again, but he heard it as clearly as though he had.
"Naruto." The hidden leaf village boy looked up at him. "I want you to do me a favor."
"A..." He swallowed. "A favor?"
"Kill me."
- -
"Sasuke..."
Sakura punched the ground with her fist.
"Sasuke..."
She had never thought that he would - or even could - die. He was Sasuke. As far as she was concerned, he was immortal.
And yet, here he was, lying on the ground in front of her, unmoving.
The longer she looked at him, the harder it became to hold back her tears.
"Sasuke..."
And suddenly it became too hard; suddenly she was unable to continue holding them back.
"Oh, Sasuke," she cried before she threw herself across his chest and began to sob. She didn't even care that Haku's needles still stuck out of his clothes. "Sasuke... Sasuke..."
Tazuna, looking on, shook his head sadly at the girl's despair. "If this is what it means to be a shinobi, I never want to be a part of it. To put such a heavy burden on a girl at such a young age..."
- -
"Wha - what?" Naruto couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Kill you? Why? Just because you lost that's-"
"Naruto."
The blonde stopped speaking.
"Lord Zabuza took me in when no one else wanted me. He wanted me for the same reason everyone else despised me – my blood. He made me his tool. He gave my life a purpose." After a pause, tears forming in his eyes, he said, "Now... I've failed him."
Naruto said nothing, having no idea what to say. He knew what it felt like to have a purposeless life... but even though now his reason was gone as well, he couldn't fathom the wanting to die...
"You would never understand..." Haku misinterpreted his silence. "You still have your innocence... You can't understand what it truly means to be a shinobi..."
- -
Sasuke came to consciousness and felt something heavy pressing against his chest. His first thought was of Naruto.
"Na...ru..."
But then he realized he heard crying.
It couldn't be Naruto. Then he recognized the voice.
Sakura.
"Ka?" he finished, trying awkwardly to switch from "Naruto" to "Sakura" and failing.
"Na...ru...ka?" was how it sounded to Sakura. It was an incoherent mix of her name and Naruto's, probably, she decided, not that she cared what he said. All that mattered was that he spoke.
He heard a gasp and then "Sasuke!" The pressure on his chest moved to become pressure on his sides as she threw her arms around him in a hug.
Sakura, of course, was definitely not someone Sasuke would allow to hug him under normal circumstances. Even now, he detested her smell, the warmth of her touch, the sound of her voice, and everything else about her.
But he wasn't about to complain. At least she'd stopped crying.
As much as he hated Sakura, he hated crying even more. It reminded him too much of that day.
And as much as he hated Sakura, he didn't hate her more than Itachi. He could never hate anyone more than he hated Itachi.
He finally managed to open his eyes and looked at her. She had mostly released her hug. Though she was smiling, her eyes still threatened to overflow with tears.
"Oh, Sasuke..." She launched herself onto him again, bringing him into a less tight hug.
"Sakura... you're... suffocating... me..." he gasped. Though the hug had been less tight, he was still having difficulty breathing.
"Oh! Sorry..." She quickly removed herself.
"It's... all right," he lied. He slowly pushed himself up into almost a sitting position. "Sakura... what... happened to... Naruto?"
"Nar...uto?" She asked, slightly raising an eyebrows. Since when had he cared about Naruto? "He's over there... fighting with the mist ninja."
So Sasuke turned his head to look, to see that Naruto was actually not fighting with Haku at all. The two were simply standing, staring at each other.
- -
"I'm a tool that can no longer be used... no longer has a purpose..."
- -
"Well, Zabuza," Kakashi said, looking at him. "I may have been wrong the last time I predicted your death, but I won't be this time." He raised his knife and poised to strike. "I'll see to that myself."
- -
First he had been begging, begging for his death, and then he was gone. Or, at least, that was how it seemed to Naruto. Initially, of course, he was confused. But after a second or two, he decided to look around for him.
And he saw that the last act of Haku's life had been to sacrifice himself.
He had saved Zabuza by letting Kakashi take his life, instead.
Perhaps he did understand how precious Sasuke was to him, Naruto realized. After all, he had done the same thing Sasuke had to save him.
Sasuke...
"Heh. Thanks, kid." Zabuza then dislodged Haku's body from the weapon and threw it aside, as though it was nothing more than a dirty rag.
"Hey!" the number-one knuckle-headed ninja sceamed.
Zabuza lifted and turned his head slightly, to show that he was listening, but he did not turn to face him.
"You can't treat him like that! He was devoted to you! He died to–"
"Listen, kid." There was something different about his voice, a slight cracking. He turned to face Naruto, showing him the tears now forming in his eyes. "Not... another... word."
So, despite their tough interior, despite that they acted like they cared, they did. They were only human.
No, they were more than human. They were shinobi.
That's the job of a shinobi, to overcome their human feelings and reach a new level of being. They had to kill their hearts with their blade... just as shinobi was originally the words for heart and blade.
So then maybe he would never be a real shinobi, Naruto thought, no matter how hard he worked.
No, he would still be Hokage someday. He'd show them all that you could be a great shinobi even if you were open about your feelings. Even if you acted like you cared.
Because that is what makes us all alike. Feelings are only human. And that was what every shinobi started as – human.
He and Sasuke had always been alone, separated. They had been branded by their peers, given a label. They had both suffered... and though the circumstances were different, all hardships are the same.
They were so alike... yet, so different. They were unique, and yet the same.
That was bottom line: all shinobi are more than human... yet at the same time, all shinobi are only human.
Naruto was more open about his feelings than his other half. Sasuke had to act as though he didn't care. He had been taught that emotions were weakness. But even so, he was like every other shinobi. Feelings were a part of who he was. He could only hide them, not destroy them. Emotions are too powerful to be destroyed.
And so Naruto understood.
To be a shinobi was to be more than human, but at the same time, only human.
– Kuramastrass –