PANACEA
Panacea: an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties.
In a dream, level with the burning crimson eye, face reflected in the glassy surface. He watched his own countenance in the black depths of the diamond pupil as it expanded and dilated like the focusing of a camera lens. Naruto stood before the nine tailed fox, Kyuubi, who's calculating feline eyes gazed out from the thick darkness beyond the bars holding him prisoner.
They were in the cavernous, flooded room that held the sealed cage for Kyuubi; a large decaying cathedral for a demon. Water dripped from the high ceilinged room, landing on the thin layer of water below. Ripples splintered across the water from these disturbances, spreading out like glass slowly shattering.
"Ah, the fool has stepped into the spider's web again," Kyuubi finally rasped from its cage. Its voice was throaty and deep, but had a slight metallic clip to it from disuse. "What is your careful reasoning this time, human?"
Naruto seemed to have been emptied of things to say in this dream, for he continued to stand silently while the water slipped around his shoes and into the cage before him, almost as if it was drawn by a current. At his sides, though, his hands clenched into fists. Why couldn't he speak? It was almost as if there was a lock on his tongue; his thoughts spinning dizzily in his head with no release.
Silence stretched in the cavernous room, the only sound being the soft echoes of water dripping and the hissing breaths being emitted by the nine tailed fox. Then, a deep, rattling growl grated through the bars like the rumbling's of an alligator.
The burning eye blinked, vanishing momentarily into the writhing shadows beyond the bars, then returned to blaze like a slice of dying sun. Rows of teeth loomed into view as the Kyuubi slipped closer, a grinning phantom of a fox. Naruto was struck again by the monstrous entity that lurked inside him, its presence seemingly swelling and pulsating against the bars.
"No response?" Its voice sounded closer, echoing in the great chamber so the demon seemed to be slinking elusively around him, or it was the room itself. Naruto felt a cold finger of apprehension slide down his spine as he imagined the entire cavern being the fox's mouth, the moisture dripping from the ceiling could be the demon's saliva. But the two glowing eyes locked on him contradicted these imaginings as Kyuubi chuckled darkly. "You stand at the maw of your own darkness, human, and here it waits eagerly to devour you. Why have you nothing to say?"
"My darkness?" Naruto asked quietly, his voice finally coming out feeling dry and unstable. He coughed and his voice strengthened, his eyes flicking up to the monster to match stares. "You may be keeping residence inside my head, but you are not me."
The Kyuubi looked amused. "I am part of you. Reflect on your childhood, remember the misery and solitude caused by my existence. You are my vessel, if you die, so do I. How am I not part of you?"
Blue eyes narrowed. "I still don't consider you a part of me. If anything, you're more like a parasite."
"A parasite?" The great voice of the demon rumbled, a knife's edge of anger appearing in the undercurrents of its speech. "I have saved your worthless life multiple times, even going as far as to tear you out of the jaws of death! You dare insult me...?" The Kyuubi's voice had turned into a dull thunder. "No one can see the black abyss of the bottom of the ocean, but do we question its existence? Surely it must have a bottom, much like you yourself have a pit of darkness within yourself. This place is where I live."
Naruto glared, his face darkening slightly. "All I see here is a slowly rotting demon."
"I am not rotting," Kyuubi spat out in disgust, "I'm biding my time until I can shred through your simple mind. But this is not a pleasure visit to your subconscious because I enjoy your infuriating company. Your mortal body is my weakness, and danger is lurking with a glittering blade in the darkness."
Naruto scratched his head. "That all basically means that something is coming after me, right? How would you know anyways?"
"Ignorant boy," Kyuubi snarled with great disdain, crouching down startlingly close to the bars. A large gust of the demon's breath rustled Naruto's clothes and hair, but in this dream he did not step backwards in fear, but stared up at the large, deadly head of the fox. "What is the color white?" It asked suddenly, seemingly taking another approach in its explanation. The volcanic eyes slid half-closed, the pupils filling out as they studied Naruto.
The blonde boy's clenched the fabric of his pants, his lips pulling back in a grimace. "What kind of question is that?"
Kyuubi snarled at the boy's tone. "Impotent human, answer the question."
Naruto's brow furrowed in thought, a foundationless frustration with the demon making it difficult not to just snap back in reply. "The color white…" he started hesitantly, "is the—erm, it's the color of snow. It's…" Anger broke through as he fumbled for a description. "This is stupid! You can't explain a color."
The Kyuubi's tails rustled against the walls within his prison like the dry scraping of snakes slithering over stone. "White," the Kyuubi started in its deep, almost radio voice, "is the mixture of all the different colored light rays, the combination of all the colors make the light pure."
"Ehhh?" Naruto cocked his head in confusion. "Different light rays combined makes white?"
The monster ignored his confusion, leaning ever closer with a wicked smile draped across its face. "But when there is brightness, it must cast a shadow. That shadow is the lack of color, and in that darkness manifests hate."
"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto asked, exasperated. "What does any of it even mean? Are you just trying to confuse me?"
"You're being chased by your shadow," Kyuubi stated, the words fading like distant thunder in the vast room.
Naruto woke, sweating and in a wrestling match with his tangled sheets. Sunlight was streaming in the open window, igniting the floating dust motes hovering like solidified light. A groan escaped the boy in the bed, who still felt exhausted after the unwelcome disturbance of his dreams.
"I'm probably late," he intoned tiredly to the empty room. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, yawning and stretching until his shoulders and back popped, then nudged his feet to the floor and stood.
Clothes from his last mission led from the door to the bed in a curving line on the floor, the fabric stained with rusty splatters. On the bed side table was a picture frame with the glass smudged from swiping off dust. It was a snapshot from a different time whose frame pinned down maps covered in sloppy lines that ended in question marks and x's. Proof of his obsession. Naruto staggered over to the fridge and managed to begin heating some instant ramen. Even in the bleary half-awake state he was in, routine conquered all. He swung himself into a chair at the table, propped his head up with his hand and watched his meal cook.
...Kyuubi, he thought. The enigma that was locked inside him. Always clawing at the bars, lurking, pacing. An animal trapped in some sort of corporeal sewer; its mind smoothly churning like a well-oiled machine.
Subconsciously, his hand rested on the swirls of the seal on his stomach. Had he actually been visiting the demon in his dreams? Or was that just it, a dream? He silently mulled over the cryptic lecture from the nine tailed demon fox. Never before had the fox opened his jaws and said anything besides his overwhelming desire to rip off his flesh or to reluctantly shove his chakra through the bars.
A warning, eh? Naruto thought lazily, his dream already starting to fade away as reality swept into focus. Well, that little warning had managed to wreck the small amount of sleep he had.
"Looks like it's laundry day," the unmistakable voice of Kakashi came from the window. Despite himself, Naruto jumped. He twisted around in his seat to glare at the jounin balancing on the window sill. Said ninja was eyeing the blood stained clothes scattered haphazardly on the floor.
"Kakashi-sensei! You can't just leap in people's windows! What if I was naked?"
The copy-nin's eye crinkled into a smile. "Then I would most likely lose my vision."
"Ehhhh?! You probably already lost it, staring at those pervy books!" Naruto cried indignantly, breaking acceptable morning sound levels with his voice.
Naruto's morning reverie was broken, and he was back to his loud, boisterous self, Kakashi noted. When he had first arrived, the boy had been head in hand, eyes unfocused and lost in thought. He wondered vaguely if he was thinking about HIM.
"Ma, ma, Naruto," Kakashi said lazily, "enough with the personal attacks. Anyways, you're late. Tsunade-sama is going to be very unlikable if you keep her waiting any longer."
"You're one to talk about lateness," Naruto mumbled, hurrying over to his ramen where the timer was chirping. "You should save me a layer of skin and tell the old hag I'm running late because Orochimaru was in my shower or something."
His former teacher chuckled, still balancing on the balls of his feet with the dexterity of a cat. "Hmmm, I would prefer keeping my head, honestly."
He watched Naruto begin slurping up noodles at the table, his eyes glittering with contentment, the shadows under his eyes less noticeable. Nightmares, it looked like. Concern murmured in the back of the jounin's mind, watching the boy alone in the cramped space of his apartment, the floor littered with blood-streaked clothes and only a single chair at the table.
The boy himself, with his tired appearance and slightly slumped form, had now reached the age of 17-- still stuck somewhere between a boy and a man. His untidy blonde hair was longer than when he was younger; strongly resembling the fourth hokage, but still stood in bright honey spikes. Naruto had grown from a scruffy, loud-mouth youth to a sleek young male consumed by his dreams. The noise level produced by him hadn't been reduced by much, though, Kakashi reflected. He smiled slightly behind his mask.
"NAR-U-TOOO!" Came the anticipated yell from Tsunade as he appeared in her office.
The blonde-haired boy was greeted by a clipboard thrown at his face, which connected quite solidly with a "thunk".
"Owwww, Granny Tsunade!" Naruto groaned, rubbing his forehead, "Whatdya do that for? You trying to kill me?!"
"Yes!" The exasperated Hokage snapped. "And anyways, you're a ninja, you should have ducked," she added dryly.
Naruto scowled, rubbing his forehead with a sore expression. "It's early," he mumbled. "Plus, how was I supposed to know that it was 'throw random projectiles at Naruto day'? I would've worn a helmet."
He hardly had time to duck a well-aimed stapler. "Hey, hey! I'm sorry, okay?" Naruto said, holding his hands out in front of him. "Don't throw any more innocent office supplies."
The Hokage huffed and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and settling a glare on Naruto that could burn holes through his clothing. Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck. "So, erm, the mission?"
"Yes. That." Some of the frustration melted off her face at the mention of business. Tsunade pulled out a drawer at the large hokage's desk and rifled through it with experienced fingers. She came up with a scroll, tightly rolled and inscribed with lines of kanji. She balanced it between two fingers horizontally and leveled her gaze over it at Naruto. "This is a message addressed to the Kazekage of the sand. I want you to deliver it to him, in person, to guarantee it's not intercepted."
"I get to see Gaara?" Naruto exclaimed, excitement shining in his eyes, and then his expression faltered. "Waaaait a minute. Why me? Why can't you just send a messenger bird?"
"Because, Naruto, messenger birds are now considered obsolete when concerning important documents. They're easily intercepted and manipulated while in flight between villages," she answered patiently, though her eyebrow did twitch at his fallen expression. "Usually I would have sent someone else, but currently most everyone is out on missions. I also must keep a certain amount of jounin in the village at all times. Seeing as you're still a genin, you were the prime pick."
Horror flashed across Naruto's face. "It's not my fault I'm still genin! I was gone for----"
"It doesn't matter," Tsunade interrupted. "You're going to deliver this. Along the outside of the document I've placed several seals in case it is forcibly opened by someone other than the Kazekage. Even if you," she pointed at Naruto, "tried to take a peek inside, it could be fatal. Understood?"
"Understood," Naruto repeated glumly.
Tsunade slid the scroll inside of a leather cylindrical case and closed it. She held it out to Naruto who walked to the desk and took it. "Strap this against your chest under your vest or tuck it somewhere extremely secure," she warned. "Losing it or accidentally disrupting a seal could have horrible consequences."
"Hai, hai." Naruto grinned one of his sunshine smiles, a thumbs up flicking up in front of him. "No worries, Granny Tsunade!"
He started to turn to leave, but Tsunade held up a hand, halting his energetic rush towards the door. "I also added a chakra concealment jutsu into the seal, it will keep others from sensing and locating you in the midst of your mission," she added, her eyes slightly darkening. "Just be careful, Naruto. The Kazekage has powerful enemies, as do you. Akatsuki hasn't made any movements as of late, but even so, I'm cautious about sending you out alone."
Her terse, frustrated expression had given way to a more tired one. For a moment, Naruto could almost see her real wizened face, shifting beneath the smooth, youthful mask she wore.
"Because of the Kyuubi," he said in a falsely cheery voice. "I know, I know."
"Well, yes, that," she responded hesitantly, "but I know how reckless you can be, Naruto. This is a solo mission, there's no one to back you up. So avoid confrontation, even if it's him."
Leaping from tree to tree with the careless abandon of flight, breathing in the slightly chilled air of fall shifting to winter. Golden light filtered through the crimson reds and burnt oranges of the leaves, their dry rustling like paper birds fluttering delicate feathers. The thick forest of Konoha breathed and trembled in anticipation of the cold that would coat the land with a sparkling chrysalis of ice, the branches dripping glittering, melting, chandeliers.
But for now the area hummed with hurried life, the birds mostly departed or twittering anxiously in the top branches, late on a crucial journey. Naruto's mind was free to wander at these moments. When physical endurance and reactions took over, a shinobi could delve into his turbulent psyche, brushing aside wispy tendrils of thought to confront the deep blacks and purples of roiling suppressed emotion. He took this moment to sink into his.
Sasuke was pushed into the thick, condensed heart of his confusion and frustration. His name and the memories of their childhood circled each other like sharks, locked and sealed under barriers layered since his departure. Swimming along the murky edges of this miasma was his worry and distrust of Kyuubi. The demon had always held Naruto's fate tightly in his jaws, lurking behind the seal while his very presence destroyed him. But now he sensed that something had changed, or that maybe the demon was turning mad.
Whenever Naruto was in a life or death situation, Kyuubi would release his chakra through the bars while looking like he would much prefer to eat him. But now it was philosophizing? Naruto snickered. Maybe it all was just some mushroom dream. Somehow though, in his gut, he felt that the demon had been spilling prophesies.
He propelled forward with an extra burst of chakra to his feet, allowing himself to soar weightlessly through the air until he landed solidly on the next branch. The wind with its tinted chill whispered hints of a frigid night, its voice cooling Naruto's whiskered cheeks and ruffling his hair as if with cold fingers.
The shadows under his flying form shifted like muted, gauzy phantoms slipping over the ground, the patterns from the leaves almost like…
Naruto brushed against the sore, swirling miasma churning in his mind, the black crackling clouds containing HIM. Almost like the curse mark, his mind supplied unhelpfully. He always tried to avoid the dark mass that burned away at him, filling him with regret but also ambition to fix what he hadn't realized was broken... well, until it was too late.
"But when there is brightness, it must cast a shadow. That shadow is the lack of color, and in that darkness manifests hate," the Kyuubi's voice grated in his head. Hate. Manifesting. A chill shivered its way through Naruto, and he fell forward into the turbulent emotions he religiously avoided, but was always consumed by. While he leapt from branch to branch, he watched a scene he had almost forgotten play in front of his eyes.
His memories from childhood, worn thin and hazy, came to him then as if beckoned.
It was the soft, lazy times of childhood. The grass was tan from the heat of summer, the sky a pale, bleached blue. There was the taste of sweat and iron on his tongue, the faint burn of a scrape on his wrist. Naruto's feet made quiet crunching sounds on the dead grass as he walked to where Sasuke was stretched out on his back under a swaying oak tree. His eyes were closed, the lashes dark like stitches, and his body looked lax and tired.
They were both drained from an extended sparring session in the Konoha summer heat— almost to the point of dehydration.
Naruto flopped down with uncharacteristic exhaustion on his back several feet from Sasuke and proceeded to also close his eyes. The sunlight was warm on his eyelids, and the whisper of hot wind caused the grass to brush against his face. Sweat slid down his temples from the white sun, and insects stirred into a summer frenzy leapt, clicked, and made mechanical noises in the trees. But even the occasional grasshopper flitting onto his body didn't bother him, he was just so tired…
He sighed contentedly, stretching out and arching his back like a cat, then settled back into a horizontal position almost like his muscles had turned to liquid. "Ahhhh, man. I'm so beat! I won't be back to normal until I have raaaaamen," he groaned, one blue eye cracking open to look at Sasuke.
The other boy's eyebrows had wrinkled at the sound of Naruto's voice, and a dark eye flicked over to glare before disappearing again as he closed his eyes. "Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said in a tired way, the superior tone diluted by obvious exhaustion. "Who said you could sit here anyways?"
Naruto scowled. "What are you, King of the Ground? I'm sitting here because I want to!" He folded his arms behind his head smugly, grinning with a devious smile that only came from bothering his best friend.
With an annoyed huff, Sasuke proceeded to ignore him, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Plus, you know you enjoy my company."
Sasuke sniffed. "Hardly. If I wanted a foul-smelling companion I would just summon Pakkun."
Naruto laughed delightedly. "Was that an actual joke, Mr. Ice Queen?"
Sasuke was silent, not adding anymore to their usual banter.
Naruto turned his head, the sweat-dampened blonde spikes of his hair falling into his eyes, and looked at Sasuke. The other boy was in the shifting shadows of the tree, the dappled shadows fluttering over his pale skin. Dirt was streaked across one smooth cheek, and his usually immaculate clothing was stretched and sweat-stained. Naruto saw something then, maybe a flash of darkness, or the sleeping presence of a dark wolf curled inside of Sasuke's chest. A slight chill of premonition murmured through his veins, gurgling in his blood like dark spirits endowed with knowledge he had yet to learn.
The brilliant summer sunshine seemed to have dimmed somewhat as Naruto's mind nudged through a labyrinth of thought, looking, searching for what he had seen in Sasuke.
"Sasuke…" Naruto started to speak, his tongue suddenly a clumsy irrelevant tool for communicating his thoughts. "You…"
Sasuke turned his head, both dark eyes open now. Something twisted in restless circles behind the lenses of his eyes, almost like an eel creating an infinite figure eight. Emotion? No, it's…
"What?" The tone was cool, well-versed in the art of detachment, yet a slight edge of irritation sharpened his features.
"You're not happy, are you?" Naruto said after strangling and beating his thoughts into submission. "I mean, you've never been cheerful or anything, but something's different."
The other boy's mask slipped a little, but not enough for his firm indifference to be broken. "What are you talking about?" His voice was hard, almost threatening.
"I'm not stupid," Naruto said indignantly, "even if you think so. I can tell by the way we fight, and by the way you glare at everyone—Kakashi-sensei, the villagers... Do you hate us?"
There was a pause. The trees whispered to each other overhead. A cloud drifted over the sun, causing a dark phantom shadow to drift over the training field like a reaching hand.
Sasuke sat up, his fingers clenched in the grass and his face slightly contorted with fury. "…Shut up, Naruto."
Naruto clambered up into a sitting position as well. "Why? Why can't you just answer that?" Naruto asked, a look of hurt mixed with indignation swam on his face. His eyes were fixed on the dark-haired boy with confusion, almost as if he was looking at a stranger.
The atmosphere surrounding the two had switched violently, almost as if the heat had fried their senses and caused them to push aside their public disguises. Seconds ago he had flopped onto the ground, content to allow his screaming muscles to rest, but now he was locked in some strange situation with Sasuke. Both of them were frozen in a sort of stare down, like two dogs with their hackles risen snarling over territory.
Pale fingers rose to touch the inky black curse mark, and the dark-haired boy turned his head, breaking the moment that had hung in the air. The angry twist of Sasuke's face faded into cool consideration, then: "Whatever." Black eyes wandered off to look at the shifting branches of the oak, the smooth bone structure of his face casting blue shadows down his cheeks. Then he pushed himself to his feet and brushed off his pants. "This is tiring."
Naruto jumped up, frustration evident on his face. "Stop, Sasuke!"
"Get lost," Sasuke called over his shoulder as he started walking.
Naruto ran and leapt in front of the other boy with energy he didn't know he still had, and fisted his hands in the collar of Sasuke's shirt. "Listen here, teme---"
Contact. His head jerking to one side. His nerves grinding out messages of pain. Exhaustion and surprise caused him to stumble back on his ass dumbly, a hand clapped to his jaw. Sasuke stood over him, his head blotting out the sun, causing a fiery aura to blaze around his dark hair.
"Naruto." The words were slivers of ice, needles. "Stay out of my way."
Naruto sat there in shock, his face raw in its confusion, anger, hurt. Had Sasuke really just hit him so swiftly, without hardly any real provocation?
Sasuke's fist was still clenched, his stance firm. "I only want to get stronger. People and feelings don't matter. Friends don't matter," he said acidly, directing the last statement at him. "This world is rotting, the people in it are either fools or people who use and kill the fools to their advantage. The only way to survive is to be powerful."
As Naruto sat on the ground and looked up at the shadow outlined by the sun, and it occurred to him that Sasuke had a monster inside him as well. It wasn't locked inside him behind bars and a seal, but it was growing there, tapped into his mind and tangled. Poison leaked out of the creature and soaked into Sasuke's thoughts, deteriorating his humanity into a blackened shell that released something oily and bubbling.
Naruto watched his friend walk away, his jaw throbbing along with his wounded pride.
Naruto shook his head, causing the memory to be jarred out of his head. He could only imagine how much worse Sasuke's demons had grown. They probably clawed him from the inside, gnashed their fangs on his bones, and shoved their bristled hands up his throat for release. He could only choke it down, even if he could feel their nails scratching against the inside of his teeth.
Naruto clenched his fists, pushing himself harder through the trees, their branches whipping at his flying form. One day, he would bring Sasuke home. He would extinguish the darkness roaring savagely inside of him. One day, he would see Sasuke right in front of him, physical, real. He wouldn't be a little red "x" on a map, or a story someone told with a frown on their face. He wouldn't be a memory.
Darkness soared down upon the forest as the sun set, blanketing the burned colors of fall with grays and blacks. Naruto was setting up camp against the solid body of the mountains, the steep face of the side he was on had ridges of stone that created overhangs. Here he would be sheltered from the elements and be protected from the rear in case of an attack.
Naruto sighed and stretched, his hands reaching towards the bloody autumn sky. Starting from the horizon the sky created a gradient that shifted from the warm tones created by the sun to the cool blues and purples brought on by the coming night. It was almost as if someone had tipped some spectral watercolor paints into the atmosphere.
It wasn't cold enough for a fire, plus that attracted unwanted attention. Without a fire, and with the chakra silencing scroll strapped to him, Naruto would be pretty safe from any unwelcome nighttime visitors. But as a precaution, he studiously set up several traps surrounding his make-shift camping site, just in case.
Naruto slid the straps of his pack down his shoulders and let it drop onto the ground with a thump. In the pack were his bedroll, ration bars, and an array of weapons freshly cleaned and swiped free of any lingering blood. He pulled put his bed roll and spread it on the ground, then flopped down on his back with his arms folded behind his head.
He watched the sun immerse itself in the earth, then as its luminance faded into dark bruises. He should try to get to sleep, he knew, especially since he planned to be in the Sand Village by the next day. But there was something about being in the vast forest as night fell, a kind of dark magic that seemed to beckon out the monsters. He sighed, closing his eyes, and sleep made it's slow and careful descent.
Naruto woke to the sound of light footsteps scuffling on bark, and the near silent creak of wood bending. It was the whispering passage of a ninja traveling through the trees, about 20 yards from his make-shift clearing cut into the mountains. The chakra silencer placed on the scroll must work, he mused, for another ninja to pass by so swiftly without pausing. He continued to sit there on his bed roll, ears prying into the silence. Another hushed footstep much further away, quick, barely audible.
Then there was the sudden sensation of uncanny knowledge growing in him, enough to raise him to his feet. Naruto had never been great at chakra detection or distinguishing it, but there was a certain taste on the wind that stirred him awake. He could almost compare it to the scent of ozone before a lightning storm, or the coppery-penny taste of blood in the back of his throat. He stayed frozen in place, warring silently within himself. Risk the mission? Pursue a phantom through the woods?
The scroll strapped underneath his clothing burned against his chest, indecision sitting like bile on his tongue. "This is a solo mission, there's no one to back you up. So avoid confrontation, even if it's him," Tsunade's voice rang in his head, and Naruto bit the inside of his lip. Straying from the mission was unthinkable. He bit his lip harder. Letting this strange scent get away also grated against his entire being.
Mind and body wrestled, and then against his better, more sane judgement, he was leaping out of his safe circle of wards and out into the black wilderness. This was being hopeful. Being hopeful always ended with broken weapons and a nameless ninja being shaken in his grasp. It was never him.
So for now he would just call it curiosity.
From his first step into the woods Naruto could tell that his invisible target had been alerted. There was a slight falter in the footsteps far ahead of him, then the firm sound of contact as the other sped up. You're good, Naruto thought, detecting me right away. Alright, I'll play chase.
Naruto also slipped more power into his pace, senses on high alert to dodge branches and to listen for his prey. The darkness made such speeds difficult, the trees turning more into webbed darkness than any tangible object. He concentrated completely on this race through the night, feeling the feral feeling of hunting as he leapt bodily, swiftly through the forest. The moon filtered through in slices of silver light from a face with one corner bitten off, providing scant light for the pair as they ran.
Up ahead, Naruto heard the footsteps split into two. The other ninja had pulled a clever trick, creating a duplicate and racing off in separate directions. Naruto smirked to himself, not breaking a step as he formed the familiar hand signs. In a second there was a clone beside him, then gone as it split off after the other ninja. He was consumed with the chase, feeling as though he was a wolf racing under the night sky. Just two wolves shredding the night with their claws, playing a game that could end with death.
With a sudden rush of knowledge, Naruto got the information from the clone he had sent. Before it had been taken out by a hastily planted exploding tag, it had managed to land a shuriken in the shoulder of the running ninja which had quickly popped out of existence. He smiled devilishly. He was pursuing the real thing.
Naruto was growing closer, every now and then a dark silhouette flitted into view then vanished back into the shadows. His muscles strained, the night narrowing down into sounds and movement as he fought to keep the hectic pace. A flash of light up ahead, Naruto spinning through the air like a dancer before even confirming that it was a kunai. Said weapon flashed past him, a dull thud resounding as it connected in a tree trunk. Seems my friend is getting a little irritated, Naruto thought grimly as he continued to press forward. Worried I'll catch you? He flicked a shuriken into his hand from his sleeve.
Branches whipped at his face, leaving behind burning scratches. The wind was a continuous roar in his ears as he propelled himself after his swift quarry with all his strength, his leg muscles developing a dull ache. He felt like he was getting closer, but the other ninja somehow managed to leap out of range right when he was about to throw the shuriken. Naruto ground his teeth with frustration, hardly managing to duck a thick branch in time. The leaping shadow ahead was leading them deep into the forest, the branches intertwining into dangerous nets. At this rate...
There. All the racing filed down to this one snap shot. His elusive prey seemed to hang in the air, caught there by a small square of moonlight. Naruto's arm acted on its own, whipping the shuriken across the distance separating them. It happened in a second. The shuriken being thrown, the dark blur of the figure as it slipped into that one shred of light. But the shuriken sliced through the air in a blink of an eye, and then the other ninja jerked to a violent halt in midair as the throwing star caught a trailing sleeve against a tree.
Naruto flew by the other's suddenly stopped form to block off an escape, and spun around to face the caught ninja. There was the sound of ripping fabric as the other ninja undoubtedly yanked their sleeve free, then the soft patter of feet as they landed on a branch beneath where they had been pinned. In the darkness, Naruto could make out the gleam of eyes watching him.
"Naruto." The voice rippled coldly through the air.
At the sound of his name, Naruto froze. It felt almost as if his organs had slipped out his feet and slapped onto the ground, leaving behind icy shock. The thudding of his adrenaline-fueled heart burst in his chest and echoed into his ears. His breathing sounded loud and rough in the chilled night air. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. Being hopeful led to destruction...
"S-Sasuke?" The name slipped out from cold lips anyways. "Is that you?" He was ashamed of the shake in his voice, but there was suddenly so little air in the atmosphere. It seemed like it was being sucked in by the shadowy silhouette standing threateningly in the dark.
There was the soft scuffling sound of sandals on bark as the other ninja leapt onto a higher branch, becoming bathed in silver. A pale face turned to him and the recognition ripped away Naruto's breath. It was Sasuke. Of course it was. Naruto had known it all along, somehow. But at the same time, the sudden appearance of Sasuke was so surreal. The fact that it was nighttime didn't help either, giving the situation an almost dream-like effect.
There was no forth-coming answer from the dark figure standing resolutely in the moonlight.
Naruto could make out his features now in the soft light of the moon. Sasuke looked different, older. He had grown taller and was sleek with muscle, the haori revealing a smooth, white chest that looked toned and powerful. The bone structure of his face looked about the same, except the night cast shadows like knives on his cheekbones, making his expression look sharp and solemn. Black eyes burned under thin eyebrows that were drawn into a glare. Everything about the other male rippled with repressed power. It was like being greeted by a crouching, deadly tiger after expecting the underdeveloped cub.
Naruto could tell from the other's poised frame that he might try to leap off at any second. Another shuriken leapt eagerly into his hand, ready to pin another article of clothing if necessary.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "As reckless as always." he stated. "You didn't even know if it was me." Dobe. Naruto heard its silent presence at the end, but knew Sasuke would think of it as a term of affection now.
Naruto laughed without feeling, shifting his feet and settling liquidly into a fighting stance. "Let's just say I had a feeling."
"Hmpf." Sasuke unsheathed his katana at his side, the blade singing as it slid free.
"I'm going to bring you back," Naruto declared forcefully, "even if it's in pieces."
A snicker from the phantom. "As if."