Alrighty, so here's this mess. The story behind the story here is simple: I was looking for some NarutoxTayuya fics to enjoy and found that as far as new ones go, well there are none. A few gems are out there but I've read them thrice over by now. I realized that if I want something fresh I'll just have to do it myself. And here we are.
Now I'm terribly inept when it comes to kicking off anything I write but once I find my groove things feel a lot more smooth. So if any of this reads a bit strange then forgive me, with any luck it'll straighten out into something fun and coherent. It's my favorite off-kilter pairing that I just don't see enough of so I think I can squeeze some mileage out of it. Here's hoping that someone tags along and enjoys the ride.
Questions, comments, and concerns, furious tirades: all these things are welcomed with open arms. I aim to improve and that's much easier to do if you tell me what I've done horribly wrong in the first place. This'll be the first thing I'm putting up around here so words of encouragement and suggestion are paramount.
Without further adieu, here is Abhorrence. (Apologies, but I made a teensy mistake and didn't upload about half the the first chapter the first time around. It should be included now.)
Naruto's face was warm, more so than usual. Every inch of his body screamed in protest as he made feeble attempts to move… any part of himself. He was floating in something, heavy and thick. Not quite water but close to it; like gel or syrup. As consciousness returned his other senses awoke groggily. Smell came strongest next to the pain. He could smell blood. It's an unmistakable stench that you don't need years of ninja training to identify. The human body is tooled to detect blood and associate it with fear and death. Luckily years of ninja training could dull the fear and death reaction.
The ringing in Naruto's ears dulled just enough for him to take in the ambience surrounding. It was essentially silent, but somehow he recognized the sound – it was distinguishable from an average silence. Faintly, he heard water dripping in some distant hall, the sound echoing and distorting quietly off of stone walls.
Sight returned. Naruto's eyelids pried open with some difficulty. Whatever damage his body had taken wouldn't show in his mindscape – where he'd decided he was – but he felt as though his eyes were swollen shut.
His vision slowly came into focus, unblurring a ceiling ridden with lead piping and a floor covered in a few inches of water. Definitely the mindscape. Struggling to his feet, Naruto admired each wall more closely, neck aching as he turned his head. A hopeless maze for anyone else, Naruto knew this place like the back of his hand. He identified a few tell tale notches and scrapes in the walls and made his way to the only portion of the maze worth visiting; the cage.
The water at his feet sloshed thickly a bit more than normal, proving difficult to navigate through. The water appeared normal enough to the eye so he passed off the difficulty as his body being so damaged it translated sluggishly into his mindscape. It wasn't a particularly comforting idea, unfortunately.
The dank depressing chamber which held a demons cage was just as it had been since its creation… dark and depressing. Droplets of water trickled along the vinework of pipes in the ceiling, falling free and plopping loudly against the water below. However, some things were notably absent. The deep guttural breaths from within the cage, treading the line between exhales and growls. Massive pearly white teeth and blood red eyes were not visible. Burning powerful energy was not disturbing the air in a semi-visible ripple effect.
"Hey… Fox… you there?"
Naruto spoke with uncertainty, his voice coming out shakier than he'd prefer. Was he nervous? Afraid? Or maybe tired? He couldn't place the feeling in his gut, but it wasn't positive. He wiped at the moisture on his cheek, becoming annoyed with its presence. It didn't wipe away.
After a long moment of silence Naruto opened his mouth to call out again. He was interrupted. A long drawling word came from the darkness within the cage, generating a breeze that pushed the water at Naruto's feet backward and down the hall.
"Yeeeeeesss", the Kyuubi replied.
Naruto leaned forward, peering more closely into the cage's depths as water swirled and settled once more around his ankles. He didn't dare step closer to the cage, lest it's occupant take advantage of Naruto's weakened state.
"What's going on? Why can't I see you?", Naruto asked, suspicion painting his tone.
"We… are weakened, kit. Rest is… neeeecessary.", the hidden demon replied once more, drawing out its final word in an audible effort.
Naruto had been on the losing end of a fight beforehand, having had similar encounters to this. What was different was just how weak the Kyuubi appeared to be. It was an unsettling situation. Naruto couldn't imagine anything driving the hulking beast to a state like this. Surely it was some sort of trick the demon had concocted.
An exasperated snort from the cage tousled Naruto's hair and disturbed the water's surface once more.
"Mind… your thoughts are… not your own, kit. Not with me. I… am weak… I have no ult…ulterior motives. We must rest.", Kyuubi released another rough breath of pain, as if not drawing out a word had hurt.
"W-Well where am I? My body I mean.", Naruto asked uncertainly. He was met with the faintest of fanged grins from within the cage. Very small and very distant.
"You? You… are dying, kit."
"What? What!? No, no that's not going to happen. You! You can't let that happen!", Naruto jabbed a finger in the cages direction, uncharacteristic panic in his voice. He was disturbed by his own sound. His head felt swimmy and he was barely holding himself upright in his own mind. Just how weak was he in reality that his mind couldn't project him normally?
A rumbling series of grunts, presumably laughter, came from the cage.
"I just told you how weak, kit. Dying. That is… that is how weak."
"You'll die too! You'll…. You'll die with me…", Naruto's words faltered. He fell to his knees, a move that his body welcomed having been protesting the act of standing for some time now.
"I'll not die today.", the beast spoke with smugness shining through its lack of energy, "You should understand."
"I don't…", Naruto replied meekly. His seventeen year old form had left the mindscape. In its place was a child, perhaps no older than five. He was cowering, knelt into the water with hands clutched at his scalp.
"Well then kit. I suppose I can spare one more favor, if only to help you….understaaaand."
Naruto's eyes fluttered open. It hurt. As if the lids were on fire. Something red slide down one eye, blurring his vision. He made to wipe it away, to no avail. His arm would not move. The stench of blood was so strong. The forest surrounding him was dark, but the clearing he lay in was illuminated in powerful moonlight. Moonlight and flame. Bodies lay nearby. He couldn't tell who they were, even though some were facing him directly. They were charred and blackened to unidentifiable degrees. A hot breath tasting suspiciously of vomit passed Naruto's lips, but no bile followed.
He wasn't given much time to think about his surroundings. Movement in the treeline collected all of his focus. His muscles tensed in preparation for combat or escape, or anything at all. It hurt like hell and reared next to no results. He couldn't move. He'd been given just enough chakra to be awake.
Maybe playing dead would be a good way to go. It sure as hell wasn't his first choice but for once Naruto was legitimately limited on options. So he stayed still, keeping his breathing slow and shallow and narrowing his eyes just short of completely closed. A blurred figure emerged from the trees, moving slowly. Firelight danced off of gleaming metal in either of the figures hands. Whoever it was wasn't very large. There was no intimidation in their step, no killing intent in the air. Perhaps it was an ally.
Had Naruto won some fight? Obviously it hadn't gone very well on his end but no one seemed to be attacking now. The calls and crashes of battle couldn't be heard in the air. All in all the night seemed very call, from what he could perceive anyway.
The figure had drawn rather close and stopped. Maybe they were looking at the bodies, taking inventory on fatalities. Maybe this is what Kyuubi meant when it said it would not die this day. This person would save Naruto and by proxy the demon fox itself. Yes, that must be what it meant. The best course of action Naruto could take right now is to let this figure know that not everyone in this clearing had passed; he was still alive.
Naruto groaned in an attempt to speak, opening his eyes as well as he could manage. Blood had seeped into one, agitating it and preventing sight. The other eye worked well enough.
"…Tayuya?"
The figure squatted down in front of him, fireglow casting strange shadows across its feminine face. Tayuya's expression was difficult to read, but there was pain in it. An unmistakable pain that no one could hide from the boy who hid it best.
"Tayuya w-….what's… you okay?"
She didn't answer but merely stared at him. His good eye traveled to the metal in her hands. One hand held that familiar old steel flute she loved so dearly. The other held a dull, tattered kunai. Both hands were shaking. Another figure was present behind her. It hadn't approached from any direction or whooshed into being like ninja were prone to do. It was simply there.
"Do it then, young lady. Show me you're sincere.", a male voice spoke. Naruto found it entirely familiar and yet had no idea who it could be. This was who he fought… he was certain of it. What was he doing with Tayuya? She needed to get away. The man was dangerous. He had done so much… what had he done again?
"Speak if you like, young lady, then let him go. Now is the time.", he spoke once more.
Her shaking hands ceased. The flute rolled from her fingers to the dirt.
"Right… time. Been a long time coming. I hate this piece of shit.", Tayuya spoke with a resolve that had no business making Naruto feel as warm as he did, considering the circumstances. She hated him. No one who hates you saves your life.
Tayuya raised the kunai high above Naruto's prone form, taking the weapon tightly in both hands and plunging it into the blonde ninja's chest.
===Four Years Earlier===
Naurto Uzumaki stood on the tallest stump he could find, surveying the destroyed forest before him. He was wrapped head to toe in bandages and entirely unconcerned with the fact that hospital staff were on an anxious hunt for him. Though his hands hurt more than any other body part, he had them balled into tight fists of frustration.
"Everyone fought so hard. He still got away...", he murmured to no one in particular.
"Sasuke chose to do what he did, Naruto. Don't stand here and punish yourself. I'm the one who failed.", Kakashi spoke solemnly as he set a reassuring hand against Naruto's shoulder.
Of course Kakashi would have to find his student when the nursing staff could not. It wasn't an irregular occurrence so Naruto wasn't exactly surprised at being found after running off.
"Why did he choose to go, then Kakashi-sensei? Why side with those people?"
Naruto could feel Kakashi shaking his head slowly as he responded, "He has a lot of pain that you or I may not truly understand, Naruto. His past has been driving him to this for years now. I don't think there's anything anyone could have done to avoid it."
"I could have beat him...", Naruto suggested in an almost dark tone.
Kakashi sighed and stepped around Naruto to stand at his side and admire the fallen forest.
"You have to ask yourself, Naruto. Would that have changed anything?".
Naruto was silent, face hot and words lost to frustration. He had no idea what the answer was to that. Maybe Sasuke would see what he was doing was wrong and decide to grow with Naruto and Sakura as a team. Together they could chase down Itachi and whatever else Sasuke felt he had to do. As teammates. Friends. Brothers. He just didn't understand.
"They need you back in the hospital, Naruto, or they'll give up your room.", Kakashi delivered his final thought without glancing in Naruto's direction. The jōnin turned on his heel and vanished in a swirling of leaves.
Naruto kicked at a few of the strays as they floated across the tops of his feet. Would he have changed anything...
He considered slumping to the ground and brooding for a while longer, unconcerned with the hospital. A stray breeze collected one of the leaves he kicked and whipped it along the still-fresh battle ground that was a collection of toppled trees. Only hours ago Shikamaru was here struggling against one of Orochimaru's sound ninja. Naruto couldn't resist a smile in spite of himself. Temari from the Sand Village had come to Shikamaru's rescue, last Naurto had heard. He'd have to make sure he reminded the lazy ninja of that once or twice.
The rogue leaf was still dancing on the wind in front of him, whizzing around splintered stumps and horizontal tree trunks; the wind just wouldn't let it go. With all the leaves from the trees blown away the single leaf carried on wind was easy to spot among the stumps and logs. Anything but wood would be easy to spot in that wreckage. Even... an arm.
Naruto's eyes grew wide as he stared at a human arm sticking up from the mess of trees, bruises and batterings visible even from a distance. The leaf still whipped wildly about in the air, never leaving the stump-filled clearing. He leaped down from his stump and hopped in the direction of the arm, stopping several feet short of it. It could have been some sort of trap that was set during the battle and never went off. Either that or simply a casualty.
Naruto wasn't exactly in a good state for possible battle, but he decided to risk it.
"Hello?", he called.
After a long moment, two fingers on the hand twitched.
It didn't take more than a beat for Naruto to react. He scrambled the rest of the distance to the arm and began to dig, employing chakra use and some weaker techniques to move large pieces of debris. He steadily unveiled a girl, roughly his own age with dark brown skin, bright red hair and off-white horns growing from her skull. The arm that was exposed he could now see was bent at a strange angle near the elbow. In her other hand, buried beneath a particularly heavy log, she was clutching a steel flute which had had one end neatly sliced away, presumably by whatever technique leveled the forest. The girls body was covered in blood, breaks and bruises that might turn the stomach if observed for too long.
Naruto cast all thoughts aside much as he did the bits of tree pinning the girl down. He came away from the mess with the girl held in his arms, bridal style, and hopped toward the village with great haste still being careful not to jostle her around too much. Whoever she was, something told him he needed her alive.
=i=i=i=i=
The assassination attempt on the Hokage and the ensuing battles during the chunin exams had resulted in a lot of ninja being admitted to Konoha's hospital. One particular nurse had been running back and forth like a headless chicken dealing with this patient or that patient from needs as small as stitches to as large as amputations. They had been understaffed enough with a handful of nurses and doctors having gone to watch the exams along with the rest of the village. Now those same nurses and doctors were injured patients as well. The nurse had been abruptly tasked with keeping tabs on a certain wing of the hospital and its patients. All but one were behaved and cooperative. She stood at his bedside, the bed quite empty to her annoyance, and watched the sun creep behind the Hokage monument as night fall approached.
She released a tired, aggravated sigh and turned to enter the hall and find someone else to fill this bed for the evening. In the doorway, huffing and wheezing, was her missing patient, Naruto Uzumaki.
"Mr. Uzumaki I've told you a dozen times not to leave this room and yet again I find the bed vacant. I'm afraid I'm going to had to forfeit the bed and medical attention to someone who actually may need-"
The nurse had been too flustered to notice the girl in Naruto's arms until her final word. She only took a short moment longer to survey the girls odd growths. She didn't speak anymore, hurriedly gesturing Naruto toward the bed where he lay the girl down as gently as he could manage. The nurse began her own quick examination and treatment of the girl, stopping only to press a buzzer on the wall calling for more nurses and to shoo Naruto from the room.
Naruto complied without question, stepping out as two more nurses scurried into the room, sliding the door shut behind them. He watched the nurses silhouettes dance around each other through the fogged glass window in the door. He practically floated backward, landing with a thud in a bench seat in the hallway, still staring at the door. Everything felt very surreal for him. Who had he just saved and would they even make it through the night?
Before his mind could buzz to life with follow-up questions, his eyelids slide shut and Naruto fell asleep. He did not dream of harrowing battles with Sasuke or ninjas dying in the streets. He didn't dream of the old man, Hokage struggling for his life inside some strange arena made of purple energy or his friends risking their lives against powerful sound ninja. For whatever reason, he dreamed of habanero peppers.