Don't look for Me
Naruto loved and hated Konoha. He had met all his current friends there. That same place had hated and ridiculed him for almost 12 years. Hell, he would still get an evil eye from some of the villagers he passed by.
Another reason he hated this place, home of his birth and pride:
He had to leave it. While this action may have been surprising to others in the village, he had been dwelling on the thoughts for more than half a year. The reasoning he knew he had to leave with simple; the seal on his body was breaking. And was not going to reseal it. Yes, he had felt Kyubi stir within him almost he daily now, but something had changed.
The Fox began to speak to him; had been talking with Naruto since about three months ago. It had confused the hell out of him the first time it happened, but now he felt that he had another friend. He had begun to merge with the Fox, and it was almost complete.
He looked around his small apartment for the last time. Over his shoulder was a knapsack that held changes of clothes and food, (that was not all ramen, thank you very much,) along with one or two keepsakes he could not part with. One was his ginen head band; the other few were all pictures. Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Garra, Neji, Choji, Shikamaru, and… Sasuke were among them.
He felt a harsh tug on his chest at that thought. He had said that he would bring the bastard back at all costs, but it looked as if he would have to break that promise now. Maybe he would continue his search after he found a place for himself. Maybe Saske would come back then...
He shook the consuming thoughts from his head as he saw the beginning of light shining through his window over the kitchen table. Naruto set the notes he wrote earlier on the table and left his key there too. He knew this would be the last time he would walk through the door there was no reason to lock it now.
While his mind was telling him to turn back, his heart was sure: he could stay there no longer.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Tsunade's office was bustling with the usual activity that bright morning, and all felt at peace for her. As Hokage, she worried over her ninjas on dangerous missions, but all the requests that had been coming in recently were B ranked and lower.
So, for over two hours, her day had been looking up. But almost as soon as she was going to breathe a sigh of relief, there was a commotion in the outer office, it sounded like Sakura was shouting out apologies. Pink haired medic stormed into the Hokage's office ignoring all formalities, was a paper in her little hand.
"Sakura?" Tsunade a finally spoke to the breathless girl.
"He's... gone..." Sakura panted.
"What?" Tsunade's is brows came together.
"Naruto... he left!" Sakura cried out.
"What!" Tsunade repeated, snatching the paper from Sakura's outstretched hand. The blonde hardly registered the sobs that Sakura was wretched with. She read the short note.
To whom it may concern –
I have decided to leave Konoha. I'm sorry I have left without saying goodbye but as Shikamaru would say, it would have been 'troublesome'. I just wanted to say that I will miss you all, and I have enjoyed knowing you too. Tell Iruka that it's for the best, and I love him. Tell Kakashi thank you, and I'm glad to have trained with him as a ginen. Baa-chan, I know you will be the best Hokage ever. Sakura, you weren't the best friend I that I ever could have had. I'm sorry to have left this way. I will not be coming back.
And please, don't look for me.
Naruto
The shock on Tsunade's face quickly faded as she forced herself to hold the note carefully instead of crumbling it up in frustration. The Gaki – her Gaki - had left without explanation.
"Sakura..." Tsunade they waited until the girl looked up, "go get Kakashi and Iruka and bring them here. Do not tell anyone else."
Through her tears, Sakura nodded. She could keep her mouth shut. Just like the secret she from the Hokage... about the other thing Naruto left.
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Sasuke had been traveling for a few days before finally setting site on the border of Konoha. Though he had little sleep, he was not tired. It was dead quiet in the streets he crept along, avoiding the ANBU guards as he headed to the apartment complex. He knew it was all foolhardy attempt, what he was about to do.
Mostly because he wasn't in fact be sure about what he was going to do. He knew that Naruto was loyal... he sighed as he jumped up the few flights until he was at the Dobe's window. He opened it and climbed into the unsettling and haunting place.
The apartment was barren. There were no plants, no mess decorating the home of his once teammate. Even the cupboards in the kitchen were empty of food. There was no way anyone lived here, let alone Naruto. Had his friend moved? He never had wanted to before...
Sasuke didn't cast the empty room another glance as he jumped out the window. He picked up on a familiar chakra as he leapt toward the remains of the Uchiha compound. He did not give any sign that he noticed the person following him, just as the person did not hide their presence.
He stopped after he had scaled the wall of his lost home and turned to face his pursuer.
Sakura had been walking home from a late night hang out with Ino and some of the other girls when she saw Sasuke appear near Naruto's house. She followed him into the compound, intent on telling him what he would not know otherwise. Sasuke may have no Naruto better than anyone else, but the auctions he had taken had been completely out of character for him. Sakura stood in front of Sasuke now, contemplating on how to tell him.
"What?" He asked.
"I take it you're not staying." Sakura stated.
"What reason do I have to stay?" He scoffed.
"What reason did you have to come back in the first place?" Sakura countered.
"Was there something else you wanted to say?"
Sasuke refused to have that particular conversation with Sakura.
"He left..." Sakura answered without critic of his avoidance to her question.
"Who?" Sasuke asked, not letting his nervousness show.
"Don't be dense." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto left almost 2 weeks ago."
"Did he just disappear without explanation?"
"Practically. But he left a note saying that he would not be coming back. He left something else too..."
Sasuke stared at her intensely, borderline glaring.
"Here." Sakura moved of her own accord into his house, not bothering to remove her shoes. She knew she would not be staying.
"Sorry for intruding," she said, mostly to herself.
It was Sasuke's turn to roll his eyes. Really, who was there left to intrude on? This place certainly was not his home anymore.
Sakura wondered into the dining room and pointed out the note on the table.
"He left this as well. I put it here in case you came back and I did not catch you. I thought it was doubtful he would find it here, though." Sakura sighed, "I haven't opened it. I hope it will tell you where he is. Tsunade-sama has even sent ANBU after him, and no sight or trace of him has been left. He's definitely a ninja," with that, she walked out, leaving Sasuke to himself.
He stared at the paper on the low table for a moment. On the surface, clearly in Naruto's handwriting was, "Uchiha, Sasuke." It was obvious that Sakura had kept this from the rest of the village, or the note would have been destroyed. Naruto must have been counting on her to hide it.
He picked up the note and opened it.
Sasuke:
It feels weird even writing your given name, almost as weird as the fact that I am leaving. I do not know if you will ever get to read this, but I didn't want to leave without telling you that it was never the same when you are gone, and I think I will feel even more lost without you when I'm traveling outside the village. I can almost see you, Sakura, and Kakashi waiting at the bridge from my window. It makes me wonder: will I ever see you again? I want to leave this question to fate, but fate has never been kind to either of us. Oh well. I guess I will have to, because I do not think there will able to look for you anymore. I hope you have finished with the goals you once told me about.
Hope to see you in the future, because I know that neither of us will be back to Konoha anymore.
Naruto
Sasuke found himself staring out the window after reading Naruto's letter. He could see the great expanse of the village from this point. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon when he realized: Konoha may not have been the same for Naruto without Sasuke, but Konoha would never be the same to anyone now that Naruto had left them. He could hear it in Sakura's voice; in the morning chill seemed that much colder without the insane 'Gaki' that everyone seemed to be so affected by.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto stood near the top of a tall pine, watching the sunrise behind the mountains, making the sky red and orange and the mountains turned a deep purple.
'This almost makes leaving worth it...'
While no one would have ever guessed, Naruto actually enjoy the quiet, even grown accustomed to solitude over the years. Well, he had to keep reminding himself, he wasn't exactly alone.
'The scenery is rather spectacular,' the Kyubi answered his thoughts. 'But shouldn't we keep moving, kit? I know you can sense it...'
'Yeah, I can feel someone following us. I almost wish I didn't know who was.'
'It makes my blood boil. Why in the hell is he after us?'
'I can feel that too. And I don't know.'
The fact that he is not feel any other familiar chakra along with the one following him gave him a sense of hope, however silly that seemed. He sighed as he leapt from tree to tree, not really running from the other presence, but not really wanting to meet it either. It was obvious that he was following Naruto though, and had been for four days.
'Screw it,' he thought, 'this guy is overdue for serious ass kicking…' he stopped in a clearing in the center of the forest. This place would do for fight.
'Can I help?' The Kyubi asked excitedly.
'Wouldn't be the same if you didn't,' Naruto smiled. The Kyubi purred loudly in response. It had been a long, long time since Fox had been consciously a part of the battle. Naruto stood in the clearing with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and waited.
Not two minutes later, Orochimaru landed across the clearing in a crouch.
"Fox boy," the title slithered from the snake's gross mouth.
"Sneaky bastard," Naruto growled. "Why the hell have you been following me?"
"Bet you'll never guess," the man smiled languidly.
"Where's your trainee?" Naruto tightens his jaw and concentrated his senses on finding anyone else near.
"Ah, so maybe you can guess why I would follow you," he chuckled darkly.
"What?" Naruto snapped, "Are you telling me you don't know where he is?"
"No," the other stood slowly, "I can sense where he is,"
Naruto stared at the strange man. The reason he was following Naruto was because of Sasuke? But he knew where Sasuke was... so... what?
He shook his head. He did not want to get lost in what he saw as a pointless train of thought.
"Answer the damn question already!" Naruto grit his teeth together.
"Impatience is never good," Orochimaru said. "I am following you because I need the Uchiha to stay with me."
If Naruto had been confused before, he was now so jumbled up that his head for spinning.
"But you already know what he is! What the hell does any of this have to do with me?" Naruto was beyond frustrated.
"If I capture you, Sasuke will do whatever I command him to." Orochimaru felt that explaining this was useless, but Naruto's expression made it difficult not to let his intentions be known. Was the boy that dense?
Naruto raise an eyebrow at this comment. "I don't know what you hit your head with but it must've been a very hard object. Why in the world with that bastard give himself up for me?" Naruto would have laughed had he been with anyone else.
Orochimaru had no problem with laughing at Naruto, though. "We'll see when I have you in my hands." He smiled creepily.
"There is no way in hell you're kidnapping me. I am not the same as I was seven years ago." Naruto's muscles tensed in preparation for battle.
"You're not?" Orochimaru drawled mockingly.
Naruto grit his teeth.
"Show me." Orochimaru attacked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sasuke sensed him as soon as he was a mile out of Konoha. It was turning out to be a very bad day. He was sure that the other would sense him as well. Sasuke didn't know if he was ready to meet this challenge, but he had no problem trying. When he came close enough to see his 'prey', he saw the man's head sharply turned and headed right at a faster pace than before... wait... was Itachi running from him? That concept seemed rather impossible, but it was only enough to still his movement form minute.
Sasuke leapt through the branches and still once again, right before the clearing. Whose voice had he just heard?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto dodged yet another snake attack. Could you get any less original? He knew this guy had better jutsu than that. He had seen it! Now, he was just getting frustrated.
Orochimaru saw him as weak, he knew it. Especially when he avoided yet another coil of the snake's tail that tried to catch him. He let the Kyubi take over some of his actions. His eyes bled into a familiar red and his senses increased.
Just as he had landed a few well-placed blows and a long slash on the snake man's back, another man alighted into their little clearing. It seem as Naruto recognized him, he couldn't stop himself from saying:
"WHAT IS THIS, ASSHOLE DAY?" and flung a Kunai at Itachi's chest, even though he knew the guy would be able to dodge it. He could swear, though, that he saw the slightest hint of a smile on the man's face. It made him growl lowly, jump away from his other opponent and call out, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A bushin appeared and they both went to their separate opponents. The chaos in a small clearing really became interesting when Orochimaru decided to transform into a large snake (go figure). When Naruto is able to contend with it some what easily in his half transform state, the snake went back into a person and tried to corner Naruto against a tree.
The 'other' Naruto was attacking Itachi without pause, but there was no real pain behind his attacks except to keep Itachi out of the middle of his battle with the snake man. Itachi probably knew this because he said, "I didn't even attack you." There was a large amount of amusement in his tone.
"What other reason would you have to show up here?" Naruto ground out as he threw harder punches and kicks.
"I thought I'd do you favor..." Itachi smirked, like this gesture would be seen as an extreme act of kindness on his part. A sad thing, because it probably was.
"I'm sure," Naruto rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Look over there," Itachi ignored the comment, nodding his head behind him to the right. Though reluctant to take his eyes off of Itachi, he allowed his gaze to follow in the direction indicated... and stopped cold.
Why hadn't he sensed Sasuke sooner?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
There wasn't much Sasuke could do once he was trapped in the sapphire gaze. He knew he should have done something once Naruto noticed him, but he didn't until the noise, more akin to a shriek, was emitted from the other side of the clearing. Naruto (bushin or not, no one knew at this point) had managed to inflict a deep cut on he Orochimaru's side and the snake man was pissed. Growling harshly, he grabs Naruto and shoved him against the nearest tree, revealing the seal on his stomach as he pushed the shirt up. It was obvious at this point: Orochimaru planned to seal the Kyubi again.
Naruto seem to be trapped temporarily by the other man's hold and his memories of that happening previously. He did nothing as the five fingered seal was placed on his older, fading one. There was a moment of silence as everyone watch for Naruto's reaction -- even the 'Naruto' near Itachi viewed without moving.
Naruto sunk onto the tree he was pinned against, his features veiled by his shaggy golden mane. Orochimaru looked triumphant -- he could now capture the damned half-breed and...
His victory was short-lived as an almost chilling, boisterous laugh filled the air, and deep crimson eyes locked into his own.
"Do you expect that to work twice? You really are predictable. I can't believe that I ever thought you were strong, even as a genin," Naruto shoved the other way from him, slashing his chest in the process. Orochimaru let out a frustrated groan as he stared, shocked, at the impudent boy that crouched front of him. An imbecile that was beating him down. What exactly was going on?
"Go me!" The Naruto beside the other two in the clearing shouted as he watched the battle in progress. The brothers both raise an eyebrow at his behavior. He was oblivious to the looks as he continued to observe. Itachi had had enough of being ignored so he took down the distracted, and now obviously bushin, Naruto.
"See you later, little brother," Itachi said as he left the clearing. Sasuke growled in response, choosing to ignore his brother's sudden appearance in the day. He continued to watch Naruto and Orochimaru duke it out, wondering how much more powerful Naruto had become. And why couldn't the Kyubi be sealed, especially with the chakra that Orochimaru possessed? Intriguing...
Saske saw the battle was getting a little hopeless in the snake man's case. It wasn't long before Orochimaru backed off, annoyed and sneering at Naruto, who knew that the man would be back to kill him or try to capture him again, soon. 'Peachy,' Naruto groaned and his head, and Kyubi laughed in response.
'Kit...' the Fox reminded him warily.
'I know, I saw him,' Naruto sighed. He moved quickly, disappearing from sight temporarily before jumping back into view in the tree branch right beside Sasuke.
Sasuke stilled for a moment, he had thought that Naruto might just run off, especially with the letter that he had read in Konoha.
"Well... that was weird," Naruto said.
"I think what's weird is that this is the first time you haven't demanded that I come back to Konoha,"
Naruto laughed uneasily. Of course, that would be the first thing that Sasuke mentioned.
"Finally decide that I'm not worth the effort?" Sasuke asked in a semi-teasing manner.
"No! No, it's just -- " Naruto fidgeted, "well, if you want to go back, you should, but I..." he looked down and away from Sasuke, "I'm not going back."
"I know."
"What?" Naruto snapped his eyes back to him.
"I read your letter. A little over dramatic, ne? But wait, I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" Sasuke smirked.
Naruto's face fell from surprise and into annoyance. "You always make fun of me."
"Of course, it's only natural. Don't change the subject. Why did you leave so suddenly? Were the villagers acting up again?" Ooo, if that were the case, he'd go and burn the place to the ground that instant.
"No. But that would've happened if I had stayed." Naruto's eyes saddened again.
"Don't make me beat it out of you Urutachi," Sasuke growled.
"As if you could," Naruto muttered. "The Kyubi seal is dissipating, and I don't -- can't have a new one at this point."
"I noticed that," Sasuke eyed Naruto's stomach, "is that why you left? Why didn't you say something before it was too late?"
"I didn't want to," Naruto sighed, "it felt like I was denying who I was, and then she started talking to me..."
"Wait, she?"
"Yeah. The fox is a girl, and yes, she can talk with me now. No joking about my sanity," Naruto poked Sasuke's arm in warning.
"I think I would call you crazy if I was talking to anyone else," Sasuke chuckled, "but with you, anything and everything is insane." He laughed out loud when Naruto growled in his direction.
"So, where are you headed then? Or did you run off without a plan like usual?"
Naruto ignored the urge to stick out his tongue at Sasuke. "No, I plan on traveling, seeing things I didn't get to when we had missions."
"Hmm." Sasuke gazed out into the distance with an almost longing look. "Sounds nice."
"It was until that sneaky bastard started following me." Naruto shook his head. "Honestly that guy is a nut job. As if you would actually stay with him just because he had me trapped."
"You're right," Sasuke's breath tickled his ear, "I would have just killed him if he ever managed to capture you." Naruto tensed he felt the other so close to him, and turned his head toward him without thinking.
Nose to nose, all Naruto could see now was the deep, blue-black of Sasuke's irises and he couldn't look away. Sasuke held his gaze and leaned closer, a slight smile hidden from Naruto. He did not close his eyes as their lips pressed together, watching Naruto's widen in disbelief. He slid his hand behind Naruto's neck to pull him closer, and Naruto did not pull away...
The kiss deepened exponentially when Naruto leaned into Sasuke, resting his hands around Sasuke's waist. All was silent in the forest, calming itself after the explosive battle between the three men. That was unnoticed by them both, their ears in tune with their own beating hearts. The Kyubi purred in the back of Naruto's mind, and he had to fight the urge to smile. A few moments later, they both pulled back, sharing a glazed look.
"What was that for?" Naruto asked, not at all affronted for some strange reason.
"I felt like it," Sasuke smirked and shrugged.
Naruto looked back at Sasuke, a somewhat devious expression on his face. "Well, do you feel like doing it again?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Maybe later."
Naruto smiled widely. "Do you want to come with me, then? I mean, I don't really have any plans to go anywhere; you could pick the place..."
"So, come with you?" Sasuke kept his face neutral. Naruto nodded.
"The kiss was that good, huh?" Naruto blushed and smacked Sasuke's arm.
"Why not?" Sasuke smiled slightly as Naruto whooped beside him. Then Naruto turned to him and said:
"And hell yeah, you do kiss that good, you egotistic bastard!"
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Well, what do you think? This is my second attempt at a one shot, and my first Naruto fan fiction, so reviews would be appreciated.
Hope you guys liked it, it was a lot of fun to write.
Best wishes,
IcyBlue