Title: Future in Crimson Hands

Author: Tadz

A/N: this is just an attempt in making stories in the Naruto series. Pairings not yet decided.

Standard disclaimers apply.

There was a certain change in him that will never go unnoticed.

Every little thing that isn't part of the equation will always be eyed by him and one of it doesn't add up. Until then, he always believed that nothing will ever be able to sate his resentment towards him. Until then, he thought that this… THIS will not come to be. Not in a million centuries.

Apparently, he was wrong.

He subconsciously spends his time watching his every movement, watching his every will. Watching in anticipation in knowing that in each passing day, he was becoming more in tune with him more than any of his closest friends has been. If ever he had one. Obsession is a scary thing.

Obsession? Isn't that a rather severe way to describe it? He sneered at his own thoughts and distantly, he tried to contradict it. Although in his own little world, he accepted the truth of it.

Now, as he watched him return from his previous mission, he saw a certain change that will never be unnoticed.

Perhaps it was his transient laughter he kept showing everyone, or maybe it was the way he walked. He was keeping them in the dark. He was deceiving them by showing them the mirth that doesn't reach his eyes. Incredibly, he was always like a demon anyway, showing only bogus things to bogus people like him.

But he was different. He was different then and he is different now. And he definitely, he will always be the different one.

He turned in the corner, going towards what seemed to be the way to the Hokage's office and Sasuke kept playing the picture that will, by no means, be erased in his mind. And he, himself, joined the crowd walking about the streets of Konoha, slowly covering his air of longing for a certain boy that captivated his existence.

And he was, and is, transparently aware that he is misleading them all.

A thin scroll flew towards the Hokage, flipping through the air, then landing on the desk neatly. From across the room, a certain youth, dishelved, hair becoming an obstruction to an eye, stood straight and respectfully, eyes that were light becoming darker by the moment, as if the youth was being overwhelmed by an enormous shadow. Silence filled the entire room as the Hokage stared at the being, whom all the people probably knew since his birth, yet being in her presence, he was a stranger. No longer looking young as she knew he was, and then in a second, everything she was looking at was erased, swiftly returning the way the boy was before. A sword taken back inside the sheath to keep it protected.

"Your report,"

Like a firework, the beauty of youth that barely taken it's place was gone; disappeared. "Just like what the scroll says, mission completed," a short reply from the boy was not expected. At all.

Hokage closed her eyes. She knew the truth. Of course she did, but she wanted him to tell her himself.

As if reading what she was thinking, came in were words she never thought she'd hear him say, "It was my mission that I conduct a journey for the safe return of Kanzaki-san. Anything that happened after I return her from her respected village should not become any of my concern any longer," Cold, and so distant was what his eyes were. "Mission completed," he finished.

A sigh kept hidden. "You may go now,"

"Hai,"

As the jounin closed the door firmly behind him, and as his chakra signature was almost out of reach, a voice resonated through the shadowed recesses of the huge room. "Hmm, it seems that the memory will be lodged in his mind pretty deep,"

"A change in him has happened. And it isn't for the better,"

Naruto walked at the streets of Konoha with his arms crossed behind his head, grinning. He was looking forward to going back to his apartment and rest, slaving the whole day off staring at the vast sky. No matter how distant we seem to be, as long as we are under the same sky, we are not that far apart.

Naruto cringed, his fists curled up into a ball, knuckles going white. How can it be that that idiot could even say those things? He is now standing still, with his hand over his chest, trying to feel a certain object.

The journey was fun,. A sad smile. Thank you for protecting me, Naruto-san, even when you didn't have to. And please don't blame yourself, never in one aspect did you fail.

You're the only friend I had, even for only a short time

If you wished for one thing hard enough, it will eventually come true

I will always watch over you.

Such an idiot, Naruto thought to himself, even more than I am. He wasn't sure how he would accept the result of his last mission. He wasn't even sure how to deal with it. Regret and self-pity. He did always run away from them.

A deep throated chuckle, one filled with sarcasm for the false pretense he kept on putting up, feeling now under his fingers the smile that was pasted upon his face. Bowing his head, eyes overflowed with anguish became visible. Just when he thought he was going to have another friend, it just had to be...

Things will never be the same.

"Naruto-kun!" Haruno Sakura's voice rang in the air and the blonde's head shot up almost immediately, recognizing the tone almost anywhere.

"Sakura-chan," he acknowledged, returning a small wave from the running pink-haired youth. From behind her, he saw Sasuke.

"Dobe, what were you thinking going on to a mission alone?" the usual calm-faced, cold Sasuke asked.

"Just a class-C mission, nothing big," Naruto said, shrugging. He was tired and arguing with the dark-haired youth would only waste energy. "Don't even try to say that I can't finish such simple mission, bastard," he added, sticking a tongue out.

"Even if you didn't or did, you're still a dobe,"

"Why you--"

"Ahem,"

At this, Naruto stopped and turned his attention to Sakura. "What was your mission all about anyway? Why didn't you inform us?" she asked, fairly curious about the reasons she would soon be hearing from her teammate.

A yawn. "Can I just tell you tomorrow? The journey was kinda fast-paced," grinning, he continued. "...didn't rest on the way back,"

In a second, he was gone again, not leaving his companions a moment to reply.

At the same time, black eyes dimmed darker.

Night fell in one swoop, the sun seemingly hurrying to fade away. The moon rises, the stars following blindly. Naruto unclasps the lock from his neck and removes the piece of jewelry that wasn't in his possession before. Gleaming silver through the pale moonlight was a key barely longer than his thumb, with an embedded black stone in the middle, set hanging in a slim chain. Holding it above him, he studied it carefully, noting that nothing was particularly special about it.

The key that holds history. Naruto shook his head. How could one small key possibly hold an entire history? What did she mean by this? Why did she give it to me? These were only the few questions plaguing his mind, remembering about the incident that transpired only a few days before. How she gave the key to him, with reasons that wanted to answer why left untouched. Maybe it was the inevitable, being only him around at that time. But it shouldn't be, knowing full well that in her village she must have blood relatives.

He curled up in his side, binding the necklace back in his neck, hiding it under thin layers of clothing. Then Naruto decided. If he was trusted with it, then he shall protect it.

No matter what it brings.

-continued-