Author's Note: Hello everyone. This is the sequel to Evanescence. I highly recommend reading that before reading this.
Here's a summary of what happened in Evanescence: After Pein's attack, Orochimaru has people henge into Sakura, Kakashi, and Tsunade so he could kidnap Naruto. He succeeds, and he also kidnaps Konohamaru so as to keep Naruto within his control. Long story short, Naruto get's experimented on. They escape, but then they fall of a cliff. Konohamaru dies, and Kiba finds Naruto.
This story is about Naruto's recovery from his time with Orochimaru, and it is dark.
Beta'ed by the wonderful Loveroffanfiction. Without her, this story would not exist.
The blood was everywhere.
It was dry, sticky, and gross. But Kiba ignored the feeling in favor of providing any comfort he could. Naruto was half asleep, Konohamaru still lying dead next to him. After Sasuke had left, Naruto tried to stand, but only managed half a step before collapsing. There were heavy bags under his eyes, and his cheekbones were sharp—a stark contrast to his normal chubby cheeks— he was paler than a paper, and there was hardly a place that wasn't red.
It wasn't natural.
"Come on. We need to get home." He said.
One relief, Kiba noticed, was that Naruto wasn't at all injured. Despite the pool of red sinking into his knees, there wasn't a scratch on him. If it weren't for the exhaustion, Naruto should be able to walk. It might be slow. The trek back to Konoha would take twice as long as normal. But so long as Naruto could move, there wasn't too much to worry about.
And if Naruto couldn't walk, then he and Akamaru would take turns carrying him.
But he hadn't a clue what to do with Konohamaru.
Naruto tilted his head, throat making a scratchy moan as he opened his eyes a crack. Crystal blue eyes peered up at him, confused, dazed, and tired. Akamaru nudged Naruto's shoulder with his nose, and Naruto lifted his hand until he was scratching Akamaru behind the ear.
"I'm gonna lift you up, alright?" Kiba said. Naruto turned his head to him, hand falling to his side. There was no recognition in Naruto's eyes, and Kiba wondered if he understood what was happening. "Akamaru's gonna carry you for a bit, okay?"
He wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, pausing when Naruto released a moan of pain, but quickly realizing it was just aching limbs. Kiba had checked for injuries a million times, but found none. While aching limbs would certainly be a pain in the ass, Kiba didn't want to stay in the area longer than necessary, and he doubted Naruto would respond well to watching Konohamaru decay.
The hell do I do with the body.
Akamaru whined as Kiba placed Naruto on his back. "Sorry boy." He said, "it's only for a little while."
He hoped it was only for a little while. Naruto may have lost weight in the days he was gone, but he was still heavy enough that neither Akamaru nor Kiba could make the trek back to Konoha without Naruto walking on his own.
They set up camp less than a mile from where he found Naruto. It was far enough from Konohamaru, but close enough that Kiba was disappointed with their progress. He'd sent a summoning dog to go ahead and request backup. Akamaru, for his part, managed to carry Naruto most of the way. But the moment he caught sight of Akamaru's trembling legs, Kiba took over, and it wasn't long before they'd both been too tired to move on.
Heavy lifting may have been part of D-ranks. But carrying logs and lifting humans were two separate things.
Naruto was awake. He had his eyes set on the ground, hands fumbling with bloodied trousers. Kiba furrowed his brows. Blood was trapped onto his skin, unnerving despite its lack of flow. The smell of iron wafted through the air, and they needed to find a river to get all that blood off. Not only so Naruto could be more comfortable, but also because Kiba couldn't stand to see how much blood Naruto had lost.
Some of it's Konohamaru's.
The thought made him gag.
"Where's Konohamaru?" Naruto said. His eyes were rooted to the ground, and Kiba wished he could go into people's heads like the Yamanaka's so he could see what ideas were running through his mind. "Orochimaru promised he'd be here."
Kiba's eyes widened. Was that where Naruto had been? With Orochimaru? God, it was no wonder he was so dazed. Kiba hadn't met Orochimaru many times, but from the few interactions he had, he learned that Orochimaru was someone to steer away from at all costs.
To be with him for over a week… he couldn't even imagine it.
And Konohamaru died as a result.
And the worst part of it all, Naruto had forgotten Konohamaru was dead, and now Kiba either had to play along or let Naruto grieve a second time.
"He's, uh... Konohamaru is..."
What was he supposed to say? That Konohamaru would be back soon? He'd be lying in the worst way possible. But all the same, Kiba didn't know what Naruto would do if he had to relive Konohamaru's death twice.
"Is he cleaning again?"
A lump settled in his throat. No. Konohamaru was certainly not cleaning. In fact, Kiba had left his body to decay because there was no way he'd manage to get both Naruto and a corpse to Konoha.
"Yeah. Cleaning. That's what he's doing. Cleaning."
Naruto nodded, and Kiba pressed his fingers to his eyes to keep from crying. This was never supposed to happen. After the fiasco with Pein, people were celebrating Naruto. And he was meant to have basked in the praise. Kiba might have been a little jealous of it. But once he realized Naruto was gone, that jealousy had turned to panic.
The whole village had started panicking, and when Tsunade awoke from the coma, she was not happy to hear Naruto had disappeared.
"You should get some rest." Kiba said, "we've traveled quite a bit, and you look exhausted."
Naruto blinked owlishly. He tilted his head to the side, as if processing Kiba's words. It took several seconds for him to respond, and Kiba wanted to kill someone after hearing Naruto's words.
"But Konohamaru's not here."
Kiba grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Naruto's shoulders. The icy prick of nausea rose to his stomach. How long until he remembered what happened? There weren't enough lies in the world that Kiba could create to hide the truth, and until they got somewhere safer, Naruto needed to stay calm.
"Konohamaru wouldn't want you to stay awake for his sake."
Naruto jerked his head, eyes widening as he grabbed the blanket. Kiba furrowed his brows. It was such a violent reaction. So unexpected that Kiba flinched back as if under attack.
Naruto looked to the ground, eyes growing vacant before he let out a watery sob. His breath—once so slow Kiba thought he was dying—came out as a sharp rasp.
"What's wrong?" He said, inching closer until they were barely touching. Was Naruto injured? Had there been a bruise or a cut that Kiba missed. No. He checked every inch of Naruto's skin, and while there was blood caked to every crevice of his body, there wasn't an injury in sight.
So what was wrong? Naruto took to pressing his hands against his mouth, eyes clenched shut and head tilted to the ground. Tears spilled from crystal blue eyes, and Kiba frowned as he tried to find the source of Naruto's discomfort.
He watched Konohamaru die.
But Naruto didn't remember that, did he?
Naruto's body trembled, face red and eyes puffy. His voice was a scratchy croak as he mumbled incoherent words. He'd brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. The blanket had long since fallen to the ground, and Kiba wondered if it left him cold.
It wasn't a cold night, but God only knew what Naruto felt at this moment.
Kiba glanced around the clearing. It was dark out, with only the moon and stars to give them light. The fire had dimmed into a faint glow that gave no room to see anything. And Naruto's cries sounded more like screams given how silent everything else was. It could draw attention from a traveler or a ninja, so Kiba encouraged him to be quiet. Attention, while normally something Kiba sought out, was unwanted now. For all he knew, Orochimaru was stalking the forests in search of them, and no matter how much Naruto might need to cry, now was not the time for it.
"Hey." Kiba said. He grabbed hold of Naruto's wrist, hoping it would be comforting enough. Naruto always responded well to human touch. Maybe that was what he needed now. Some contact. He couldn't have gotten much of it while with Orochimaru. So maybe now that he was safe and free, some contact could give him everything he needed to calm down.
But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Naruto jerked his hand and backhanded Kiba across the cheek. Kiba's head was whipped to the side, pain flaring across his face as warmth trickled down his cheek. Naruto had backhanded him without the care of watching where his knuckles hit, and blood seeped from his cheek to his neck.
"The hell was that for?" He said, eyes blazing. And although his chest was tight in anger, Kiba stopped seeing red when he saw Naruto curled on his side, chest rising and falling far too quickly, and breath as heavy as the downpour the night before.
"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry." Kiba said.
He bit his lip, hands hovering inches above Naruto's arm. He wanted so badly to touch him. It was the normal, typical solution to all things Naruto. He liked contact. He wanted to be hugged, to be loved. But this? Now the simplest of touches came with violence, and Kiba didn't know what to do about it.
"Maybe—" he looked around for something, anything. There were sticks and rocks, trees, fallen leaves, and blankets. He'd already tried the route of the blanket, and it lead to nothing. So if physical touch and a blanket wouldn't work, then what would?
Kiba jerked his head up. Earlier that morning, Naruto had found comfort in Akamaru. Now, his dog was laying on his back asleep. But if anyone could stop someone from crying, it was an animal. Kiba had held Akamaru every time he felt down, and it never failed to help ease his mind.
He pressed his hands through Akamaru's fur and shook him awake. It wouldn't take much to tell him what to do. Akamaru understood the moment he saw Naruto. And Kiba watched, mildly surprised, as Akamaru nudged the crook of Naruto's neck and whimpered softly.
The effect was instantaneous. Naruto's eyes snapped open. They were puffy and red, without the gorgeous blue Kiba had grown accustomed to. But they were more clear than before. Naruto ran his hands through Akamaru's fur, and while he still cried, there was hardly a sound that could draw more attention than the cackling fire.
"Thank god." Kiba said, plopping down onto his blanket and throwing his hands over his eyes.
He truly was not equipped to deal with this kind of thing.
He listened to the sound of Naruto shuffling and sniffling. He would offer a tissue if he had any to spare. But most had been used to clean up after Akamaru when they found themselves on a commonly hiked trail. The wind was a soft leisure Kiba had previously taken for granted. It gave him something to focus on that wasn't Naruto. And God did he need that.
"I stayed awake for him." Naruto said, so quiet Kiba barely heard. He furrowed his brows. What an odd thing to say. Had Orochimaru forced Naruto to stay awake? That would explain the severity of his exhaustion.
It would also mean Naruto endured the worst kind of torture.
But he was talking now. There weren't any tears or mumbles. Naruto was willing to talk about what happened, so Kiba would listen, and he would do what needed to be done.
"For who?" He said.
Naruto ran his hands up and down Akamaru's fur. Akamaru, for his part, did a great job of enduring the feeling of blood running across his fur. And Naruto was far more calm than before. The time spent calming down had made his eyes less puffy. The bags bruising the underside of his eyes, however, had grown darker. He really should be asleep right now, especially if he was correct in the assumption that Orochimaru forced Naruto to stay awake.
Kiba heaved a deep breath. Once again, he wanted to grab hold of Naruto's shoulder in a show of support. They had never been good friends, but they weren't enemies either. Perhaps it was Kiba that needed the human contact. A hug didn't sound half bad right now. But Naruto wouldn't give him one, and Kiba didn't want to hug Naruto if all it did was set him into a panic.
"I'm sorry this happened," Kiba said. "I can't even imagine what you went through."
Naruto didn't respond. Kiba hadn't expected him to.
"My summon will be back with help. We'll be home soon."
Naruto closed his eyes and laid down at the opposite end of him. It's about damn time. It sure took Naruto long enough to finally decide to rest. God knew he needed it. Kiba would have to stay awake to keep watch. All nighters, while not a rarity, were uncommon enough that it would be hard to keep alert. But he wasn't waking Naruto up for anything less than death.
Naruto shuffled onto his side, dried blood turning from red to brown. "I don't want to see them." He said, "I don't want them to see me."
"Who?" Kiba asked.
Was Naruto afraid of someone in Konoha?
"Everyone."