Hey y'all. xD I really think this story could turn out well, I just hope you guys can keep me inspired :)
Also, a little warning... I had trouble doing the first part of the fic. If you manage to survive the horrible first half, I think the last half is much better.
ANOTHER warning: the rating for this story will eventually become M, for those little things most people love... CITRUS FRUIT! Sometimes I'll give you a heads up, but not always. Surprises are fun, right?
Main plot idea belongs to TheNightShadow4, though I added my own little mix to it, with their permission :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto (or should I say viz? I dunnoooo :P).
(I'll try to remember to put the disclaimer in later chapters too :P But if not, then here ya go.)
It was barely 3 o'clock in the morning; Naruto groaned at his clock as it began rather annoyingly. He smashed the snooze button in before sitting up to rub his eyes.
Today is the day. I can't believe I'm really doing this...
Within the next hour, he managed to take a shower, brush his teeth, get dressed, and even make a quick bowl of ramen. That must be a new record.
Begrudgingly, Naruto began packing his essentials; a few pairs of clothes, a toothbrush, some quick-fix ramen... into a large rucksack. He took one final glance around his apartment; he'd grown up here, he'd lived here nearly all his life... And he was just leaving it.
He was leaving Kakashi, Sakura, Iruka, Grandma Tsunade... he was about to leave everyone and every thing that he holds dear to him.
But that's why I'm doing this, right? To keep them safe?
The blonde sighed deeply, before returning to his room and grabbing the picture frame on his nightstand, next to the broken alarm clock. He shoved it in his bag after taking a long look at it, and continued out of his apartment.
It had already been an hour by the time Orochimaru showed up, Naruto waiting impatiently for him against a tree. They were a good few miles away from the village by now. The Sannin motioned for Naruto to follow, and they began the journey back to his hideout.
"Tell me, Naruto... what possessed you to leave your village to join my ranks?"
The question was one that the blonde had hoped wouldn't have been brought up. He sighed lowly before glancing up at the man. "It's not like... I mean, I'm not really leaving them, of course... But if I stay there, it will only cause more trouble," he sighed again and looked at his headband, which he had taken off before leaving the village. "It's not like I'm a spy, or anything..."
The snake-resembling man nodded, apparently accepting the fact. Even though he had admitted this, however, the superior ninja couldn't help but be wary. He would have to keep an eye on the boy.
"I see; would this perhaps have anything to do with Sasuke?" He knew he had hit a nerve when he saw the younger's shoulders tense, and his pace sped up slightly.
In response, though, he simply got a barely audible, "No."
"Hm, if you say so. But I think your little friend will be... happy to see you," he smirked, raising his hand above his head, and snapping his fingers.
The blonde boy looked at him curiously, "I doubt i-"
On signal, Kabuto had leapt from his position in the trees, several meters away, dashing to where his lord and his new... comrade were walking. The medical nin quickly took his hand and stabbed at Naruto's neck with his fingers, hitting the pressure points spot-on. The blonde fell to the ground, while Kabuto continued to pull a needle out of his pouch, then silently moving Naruto's sleeve up to inject the sedative into his arm.
"That should do it, Lord Orochimaru... He should be out long enough for us to get to the base," Kabuto looked up at his superior.
"Nicely done, my boy... Now, let us return to the base and begin our work."
Cerulean blue eyes cracked open, the light flooding his eyes until he had to squint. Naruto started to sit up, before being slammed back down, onto what seemed to be a medical table, by a pair of strong hands on his shoulders. The blonde winced in pain and groaned before rubbing his eyes, opening them to look at his surroundings.
He looked up to see Kabuto, glaring at him with an annoyed expression. "I guess you're awake, then. Well, I'll finish this later..." the older said, mostly to himself, as he began jotting some notes down into a journal and unhooking needles from Naruto, which he had just noticed.
"W... what the hell were you doing to me?" the younger shouted, starting to rip out needles that were still in.
Kabuto quickly grabbed his arms where there weren't needles and shoved him down again. "Quit it! I don't want to have to clean up after you, nor do I want to waste supplies on your stupid decisions!" Naruto grumbled before falling silent. He looked up to the white-haired boy, waiting for an explanation. "If you must know, I was studying your chakra. Lord Orochimaru wants me to look into your bodily functions and how they work, since you have a tailed beast. It could help us, but that's besides the point. Now, get up and get dressed before I sedate you again!"
The blonde scowled and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the table. Kabuto shoved his orange jumpsuit into his face and went back to putting his vials and chemicals away. Naruto made a face while his back was turned, before shoving his legs and arms through the suit and zipping it up.
After Kabuto finished cleaning up, he waved his hand toward himself, motioning for Naruto to follow. He followed while the older lead him down the corridors, passing too many doors to count. If he had spare time, he might go exploring...
"... the kitchen." Naruto looked up and blinked, brought back from his thoughts.
"Uh... what?"
Kabuto sighed, "Idiot... I was saying, first I'm going to show you your room, then we'll go to the kitchen." Naruto's mouth formed an 'O', though not vocally expressing his understanding. Kabuto shook his head before continuing. "Just to warn you, some things in the kitchen are off limits... including the tomatoes. Don't ask." Naruto didn't need to, though; he remembers how much Sasuke loved his tomatoes... how vicious he was when someone grabbed the last package of them in the market. He giggled idiotically at the thought, though still upset by the memories, earning an odd look from Kabuto.
"Er... ya, no tomatoes. Got it."
As Kabuto had promised, he showed the knucklehead blonde to his room, which was fairly dusted and filthy... It was a small room, consisting of only a bed, a desk, a side table and a lamp. It was sufficient enough, Naruto thought, it's not like he had much more than that in his apartment; but there weren't even any windows! And the floors, they were simply concrete... it was quite a homely sight...
After Kabuto had shown him his room, which only took about ten seconds, he quickly led him into the kitchen, which, thankfully wasn't very far from his room. It was basically the same as the rest of the base, though the floors were wooden and actually a little more cozy looking, with the beige refrigerator, stove, and other kitchen appliances. There was a wooden table in the center, with four, also wooden chairs around it, with plush seats. It seemed to be a common place for the people in the base to be, if it was this nicely decorated (compared to the rest of the hideout).
Lastly, Naruto was led down several more twisting corridors, until finally coming across a rather large door, with a snake carved into it.
"This is Lord Orochimaru's office. Knock before you enter, and if you get no response, just leave."
With that, Naruto was left alone, as Kabuto returned to the infirmary to study. He quickly realized he didn't know where he was...
The next morning found a sleeping, golden-haired boy, propped up against the wall of one of the many corridors. The night before, Naruto had spent foreverlooking for his room, before finally giving up and deciding he would find it later.
He twitched his eyes open, easily allowing them to adjust to the dim light of the hallway. He sat up and popped his knuckles, before bending his back until it cracked. He groaned at the feeling; sleeping against a wall wasn't exactly comfortable. After setting on his way, still feeling a little stiff, Naruto began his search once more, until stumbling upon a familiar four-way intersection in the hall. If he remembered correctly, one of these directions took him to his room, another to the kitchen, and the other... well, he hasn't been down that way yet.
I guess I'll just have to take my chances.
Quickly making his random decision, the kyuubi vessel took the left, eventually coming across the kitchen. It wasn't his room, but he was a little hungry. Digging through the cabinets and fridge, Naruto could find no ramen! What kind of person doesn't have an unlimited supply of ramen? He muttered incoherent words before deciding on some milk and cereal (which looked a little stale). He managed to find a clean bowl and poured what was left of the cereal into it, before uncapping the milk jug. He tipped it over the bowl... and the seemingly decent milk began coming out in chunks.
"Oh my go- What the hell is wrong with this place? There's no decent food anywhere!" he groaned loudly before commencing to slam his head against the table; he stopped however, when he heard a familiar dark chuckle behind him.
"Idiot... you're going to kill the few braincells you have left," Naruto turned, wide-eyed, to see the dark-haired raven he once called a friend. "What are you doing here, anyway? Orochimaru told me we were getting short on henchmen, but I didn't expect him to stoop so low..."
Naruto couldn't very well speak, much less form thoughts. The Uchiha stood leaning against the doorway, an annoyed yet bored look on his face; as per usual. His coal black hair was fixed in it's usual duck-ass style, just like when they were younger. He sported a white shirt that opened to reveal his well toned chest; Naruto had to pry his eyes away to quit staring (though he wouldn't admit it was staring; just... evaluating). A purple cloth was tied around his waist by a lilac rope made into a belt, with the front of the rope sporting an elongated bow. His baggy dark blue pants covered some gray socks, which eventually went down to join his standard ninja shoes.
To be frank, Naruto was amazed. It had only been a few months since their last encounter, but seeing his teme again, up close, he could see all the little details he hadn't noticed before, while they were distracted by their fight. The blonde noticed how his jaw was set roughly, as if trying to hold back a remark. His hair was quite shiny, even in what little light came from the ceiling lamps. Naruto wondered how someone could be so obsessed with their hair...
"Are you listening, idiot?" For the second time in less than two days, Naruto was snapped back from his thoughts, to the present. I really should pay more attention.
"Uh, ya, can you just... repeat that?" he chuckled sheepishly.
"Great, and we have to live under the same roof..." Sasuke muttered, more to himself, but nonetheless loud enough for the blonde to hear. Naruto could feel his chest constrict slightly before the feeling vanished, replaced by slight anger and annoyance; it was almost like the old days.
"It's not exactly a slice of pie for me either, you know!"
"Feh, whatever. Just meet me in the training area when you're done eating. Or do you even know where it is?"
"Maybe..."
After Naruto finally finished his 'meal' (it's kind of hard to concentrate on eating when you have a bare chest taunting you), the Uchiha took pleasure in following the dobe around, watching as he would become confused and irritated, before finally giving up and asking for help. Sasuke had decided to wait in the kitchen for Naruto, simply because he knew he would never get to fight him if he were to let him find his own way. It was actually rather cute to the raven, watching his blonde idiot wander the halls aimlessly, that adorable way he-
What am I thinking? Maybe Kabuto is right, I should get outside more... he shook his head clear of those thoughts, then continued to lead the knucklehead to their destination.
Once they were inside, Sasuke turned quickly to face the blond. "Let's spar. I want to see if you're even worthy of holding the Kyuubi." Sasuke knew that would only enrage the blonde, but that would only make the fight more interesting.
"Fine, let's do this, then!"
Soon they were on opposite sides of the training ground (which was inside the base), the faulty lights above them, swaying slightly back and forth, cast off a slight brightness that only added to the thoughts and feelings that ran through theirs heads, of their first real sparring match since they were much younger. It was more than a duel, it was a test. Who would come out a winner? Who has improved, who has fallen behind?
The two comrades ran forward, their weapons drawn, Sasuke's katana and Naruto's fūma shuriken. Blades clashed and metallic sounds screeched in their ears. The two jumped back again, Naruto's fūma shuriken disappearing in a 'poof' of smoke. He began doing hand signs, before shouting, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Three shadow clones appeared, two of which ran at Sasuke, the other staying behind to swirl chakra into Naruto's palm, until it became a sphere. The two clones went at the raven from opposite sides, kunai at ready. At the last moment however, the Uchiha leapt into the air, causing the clones to attack each other and disappear as well.
As soon as Sasuke had landed, though, Naruto had already begun dashing towards him, preparing to attack.
"Rasengan!" he shouted. At the same time, Sasuke began doing some hand signs as well, while the blonde closed in on the distance between them.
"Fireball Jutsu!"
Naruto's eyes widened slightly, before managing to jump out of the way, barely missing the fierce flames. Panting heavily, they stood only a few meters apart, though neither were scathed badly at the moment. Naruto continued to watch his opponent, waiting for any sign of his next move. But all he noticed was the smirk planted on the raven's face; it was too late then, but Naruto began to realize what was going on.
Suddenly, the room began morphing, the rocky walls and floor turning white, until it appeared that he were in some other dimension. He looked around cautiously, timidly reaching for his kunai, before realizing he was missing all his weapons. A booming laugh surrounded him; Naruto had to cover his ears from the extreme loudness. He felt a stinging sensation on his feet and legs; when he looked down, he could see several large snakes, beginning to devour him whole. He fell back, shrieking once before clawing at the scales of the reptiles. It didn't do any good, however, as the snakes began swallowing his arms. Naruto let out a shrill cry of pain as their fangs tore into his skin, seemingly beginning to bleed precariously. The snakes slowly and painfully made their way up to his neck, where Naruto's cries were cut short from the punctures to his throat. He began making hoarse coughs and sounds, throwing his head back and forth. Suddenly, though, the illusion ended, and the blonde found himself on the rocky terrain of the training area, laying on his back, with a raven-haired beauty above him, sitting on his stomach.
"You lose," were the only words he said, as Sasuke stood and left Naruto alone in the empty room. He groaned loudly before laying his head back down on the rocks, and closing his eyes, letting black flood his mind.
Wow, just barely 3,000 words.
I hope you guys like it :) Can I get just, maybe... 1 review? That would make my day ;D I might even be tempted to update earlier.
I think I wrote the fight scene well... what do you guys think? Any tips?
