Boy of Borealis

Author's Note: I'm really excited for this one. Powerful Naruto, witty banter, adventure...what more could an author hope to write?

Warnings: I have decided. This will be a friendship story between Sasuke and Naruto, nothing more. Sorry to disappoint my yaoi fans out there, but this story will most likely have no pairings or very light SakuNaru. There are stories that call for plot, and this is one.

I accept all reviews, especially if they're constructive. Make me better, please.

Prologue

ooooOOOOOoooo

It hurt.

Like a thousand knives were slicing him apart from the inside, twisting and gnawing against his pulsing organs. His stomach split and he buckled violently, squeezing his eyes shut so tightly that a thick liquid began to ooze from the corners.

Blood.

He could taste it in his mouth, the thick and coppery liquor bubbling from his throat, muffling his sounds of distress. His toes were curling so tightly that he thought they might snap off, and his nails bit holes into the flesh of his palms as he clenched them shut. He gargled through a fit of bile that rose to his mouth and convulsed against the deafening howl of wind that kept him suspended mid air.

Breathe.

His lungs throbbed against his ribs and he struggled to inhale; he choked down the blood and saliva that had formed at the base of his throat. Gasping for oxygen, the panic of suffocation was beginning to overwhelm him. His eyes went wide and he gagged, wheezing in an effort to fill his lungs.

He was drowning in his own spit and blood.

A rush of wind hammered into his frame and he twisted to the side, a sickening snap indicating that his right wrist had just dislocated from his arm. The pressure was too much.

The pain was unbearable.

The beat of his heart throbbed against his temples and he cracked open an eye, a blurry mess of red and white obstructing the view of his mangled body. But he could see it. It was pitch black. But he could see it.

The hole where his stomach used to be. Now only blood was crawling upwards, swirling away with the violent fixation of power and wind that bound him in place. His skin was shredded. Severed and tattered. He felt nauseous.

So this is what it feels like…

He closed his eye and gave up on his struggle for breath. It hurt. It was impossible.

He was suffocating.

A numb sensation overwrought him and the aching agony of death began to fade. He felt blackness coming. Overwhelming him like a blanket. He reached for it.

So close…

'Don't you dare die, brat.'

The voice was deep and struck several chords in his consciousness. The darkness was no longer rushing towards him. He reached out, chasing it with outstretched fingers. He wanted it. Needed it.

It was—

A new pain seared through him, sending spikes of insufferable spasms through him, waking the numbness that had claimed him. His veins burned like his blood was boiling within them, though he knew subconsciously that he had no blood left. It had left him. All that was left was what made him a fighter.

What made him a ninja.

'Chakra.'

The voice was thinking. Naruto howled as he felt his veins begin to tear, repeating the same abominable intensity he had experienced moments earlier with his skin. He felt like he was separating from himself. Soul from body.

Body from aching soul.

So this is what it feels like…

Other voices entered his mind. Conversations. Other beasts growling in thick vocal reverberations. The blackness was returning. Rushing at him as the stinging sensation faded. As he separated from himself.

'Weakling. You will not save him, now.'

His mind pulsed.

Save who…?

'Your brother.'

Oh.

The blackness came and overtook him. Death was inevitable. There was no turning back.

So this is what it feels like…

'Don't underestimate me.'

…to be separated from the nine-tailed fox.

A/N--> FYI, I only have a couple chapters of this written so it will be weekly updates until I plow ahead. Chapters will be much longer, 6-10 pages as usual for me, and I will most likely update all my stories on Sunday.

Suggestions on pairings taken, but really, I have no idea. Let me write some more and then I'll let you know.

Hope you enjoyed!