Warnings: Minor amounts of blood, violence.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would be gay. Oh, wait... never mind...
EDIT: (5/03) Fixed multiple grammar errors and expanded on some of the language and vocabulary used. Added in extra scenes near the end, based on reviewer feedback. A GIANT thank you and hug to Redbull07, who was kind enough to offer some real constructive critiscm.
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It was just one simple little jutsu. One simple little jutsu that could detect lies. To tell the truth (and how ironic these words seem now!), I underestimated that jutsu. I think everyone did. Its effect on me was devastating, a tornado that ripped through my life and scattered its remnants across the skies. My entire world was built on lies, each building off the other until even I sometimes had trouble separating fact from fiction. Every grin, every foolish antic, every laugh... all lies. I didn't want anyone to find out the truth. Heck, I'm not sure even I wanted to know the truth. The plaster mask of fiction that I had built was easy and convenient for everyone, myself included. Then they had to go and ruin it. People I had once called my friends turned on me, unearthing things that should have remained buried, moldering away from the eyes of the people. Because of that one terrible, beautiful jutsu... I lost everything. My friends. My family. And, for a while, my sanity. Because anything will break under too much pressure. Even me.
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"He's not telling the truth, you know." Sharp eyes gazed down, evaluating even the smallest, unconscious movement of the sleeping man.
A sigh escaped delicate pink lips, tainting the air with frustration. "I know."
Absently playing with her bubblegum pink hair, Sakura huffed angrily at the enemy spy, who slept on, appearing completely peaceful and relaxed, despite the wire that bound him tightly to the tree trunk.
The mission parameters had been incredibly simple. After all, it was only a B-class mission, supposedly easy. Intercept the messenger, take the message, dispose of the body. They should have been finished two days ago.There was one, small snag. The message hadn't been a written one, as they had thought. It was a verbal message, and the spy was refusing to talk. He had proved remarkably resistant to torture, and whenever he opened his mouth, it was only to say something snide regarding Cell 7 and its members.
He had the nerve to call Sakura fat. If it weren't for Sasuke's quick action, the spy wouldn't be breathing right now.
Sakura took a deep breath and released it slowly, resisting the urge to hit something (specifically, their prisoner). Cell 7 had come a long way in a few short years. They were sixteen. They were Chunnin.
And they were failing their first B-class mission.
She glanced over at Naruto, who was staring into the fire. It was only he and she in the small clearing where they had set up camp; it was Sasuke's turn to stand watch. Sakura watched Naruto for a minute, idly at first, then her attention sharpening as she noted his unusual behavior. Something was off. His arms were crossed and he was shifting his weight from foot to foot, not standing still. There was the faintest hint of a frown creasing his forehead.
He was nervous about something. That much was obvious. But what? Sakura had never seen him this agitated before.
"Something wrong, Naruto?"
He looked up, startled. Seeing her intense scrutiny, he made an obvious effort to relax his shoulders and stop shifting. "I'm fine Sakura-chan! Never been better!" he said loudly, flashing a thumbs-up and a grin. Sakura frowned sternly at him, but he didn't notice, having gone back to staring blankly into the fire. What was that? she thought, turning back to her contemplation of their prisoner. He didn't sound very sincere... Sincere? A faint memory was triggered, tugging urgently at the back of her mind, begging to be remembered. Sincere, sincere... why does that seem so important? "…no choice… forced to be sincere…"
Sakura closed her eyes and tried to place the words. Where did she hear them? Who said them? Something told her that this would be important, if se could only remembe-
Ah! That's right, it was Kakashi-sensei! He had been explaining a technique to her…
"To put it simply, with this jutsu, you can see lies. It shows as a black streak in their aura. All you have to do is remove the lie." "Remove the lie?" "Simpler than it sounds. And once the lie is gone. They will have no choice but to fall back on the truth. They are forced to be sincere." "Is that all, Sensei?" "Almost. Normally, the aura will be clean silver, no matter what. But if a person lies constantly, it will become a stain on their aura. The darker you get, the more they lie." "Have you ever seen somebody like this Sensei?" "The darkest I've ever seen was muddy grey, Sakura. But don't worry; it hardly ever becomes an issue." "Yes, Sensei…"
Sakura drew a deep breath, eyes snapping open again. Of course! This technique would work perfectly!
She took a step closer to the prisoner, her movement drawing Naruto's gaze. The female ninja ignored him, concentrating on calling up the nearly forgotten hand-signs she would need. She ran though them in her head repeatedly, checking and double-checking that she wasn't forgetting any. Once she was confident enough, Sakura began to run through the signs for real, fingers blurring into motion as she drew chakra up toward her eyes.
So focused was she, that she missed the flash of fear that made Naruto's eyes grow wide.
Sakura completed the hand-signs, called out its name, and the jutsu was complete. Her vision faded to black for a second before returning, with one noticeable difference. She was seeing in black-and-white. She turned her new vision on the still-sleeping spy, happily noting that the faintly gleaming silver aura that surrounded him like a cloud. Disdainfully, with her foot, she nudged him. He was instantly awake, sitting upright (as much as he could in his position) and glaring cockily up at her. Sakura crouched down so that she was at eye-level with the man.
"You carry a message. Wanna tell me who it's for?" she asked, keeping a close eye on his constantly shifting aura.
The spy sneered at her, "Ha! It's for your mother, fatty!"
A slow smirk scrawled itself across Sakura's face, and her eyes gained a new light. "Wrong answer."
Tainting the silver of his aura was a thin wisp of black, twisting and turning like a strand of smoke. Sakura coated her hand with chakra before reaching forward and snatching at the strand, pulling it out of the air.
The man flinched slightly. "Orochimaru. And you're not fat." His eyes widened, and he snapped his jaw shut sharply. "I didn't mean that!"
It was Sakura's turn to sneer down at him. "Why, thank you!" she said, gloating inwardly. The jutsu had worked! Finally, she could get out of this stupid camp! Civilization, here she comes!
And then the true interrogation began. Sakura brutally wrenched the answers out of the prisoner, bearing down on him with all she had. She probably used a little more chakra than absolutely necessary, but hey, he deserved it, right? As the questioning continued, it seemed to get more and more painful for the prisoner. Sweat poured down his face, and soon he began to writhe in obvious agony, despite the wires cutting into his skin.
Sasuke returned from scouting, and settled himself in to watch, his expression carefully neutral.
Eventually, it seemed the spy had reached his limit. Eyes rolling back in his head, the prisoner slumped down, the wires the only thing keeping him in a sitting position.
It was over.
Grinning tiredly, but with no little satisfaction, Sakura wiped the sweat from her own forehead. Great, mission complete, let's get outta here! She turned to face her teammates with a proud grin, prepared to gloat, and gasped.
In the middle of the camp, and cloud of the blackest black was hovering, eating up any light around it like a black hole. It twisted back and forth angrily, as though agitated. Sakura felt faint with shock and fear. The midnight cloud whirled and spun, disturbed by a movement at its center. Little dark eddies detached and spun off into nothing, and the cloud dispersed for a split second, thinning, before pulling itself back together. But that one glimpse had been enough. Sakura had seen that flash of cheerful yellow hair and blue eyes, that ninja headband displayed so proudly on its owner's forehead.
Naruto?
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked, raising a thin eyebrow. All of a sudden, Sakura was aware of how she must look, standing blankly in the middle of the camp with her mouth wide open, gaping like a fool. She shut her mouth hurriedly, embarrassed to have been seen like that by Sasuke.
"I'm... I'm fine, Sasuke-kun. Just a little tired," she said, deactivating the jutsu and blinking as color flooded back into the world. I'll tell him later, she resolved mentally.
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And indeed, it was hours and hours later when Sakura got the chance to talk to Sasuke.
During the lengthy trek back to Konoha, they had met up with Cell 10, who were also returning after a completed mission. At first, Sakura had been happy to see her old friend and rival Ino, glad for some female company, but it hadn't lasted long before the two were practically at each other's throats.
Then Chouji had complained he was hungry so many times that they had finally stopped to eat.
Then Shikamaru had fallen asleep during dinner.
And then Sasuke and Naruto had decided to have a "friendly" sparring practice, which led to the destruction of a wide swath of forest.
Needless to say, Sakura had other things on her mind.
However, now, as she stared at the plain canvas walls of her tent, listening to the soft sounds of the forest and the others, asleep in their tents, Sakura was free to wonder. And worry.
"… The aura will be clean silver, no matter what. But if a person lies constantly, it will become a stain on their aura. The darker you get, the more they lie…"
Sakura couldn't see how this could ever apply to Naruto. How could he lie so much without anyone noticing? Surely someone would have pointed something out. After all, Naruto was far too loud-mouthed to keep a secret, for any length of time.
So what did it mean?
With a delicate sigh, Sakura lifted the flap of her tent and crawled out, standing up and unconsciously smoothing the wrinkles in her clothes. She walked past the slowly dwindling fire, and stood at the edge of the camp, just where the light began to meld with the darkness.
"Sasuke?" she called quietly into the dark forest, knowing that he would hear her.
The raven-haired ninja appeared in front of her without a sound, seemingly materialized from the darkness. A slight frown of irritation settled on his pale features.
"I'm on guard duty, Sakura. This better be urgent."
"It is, Sasuke-kun," Sakura's voice was unusually solemn and serious, and she glanced over her shoulder. "I... I need to show you something. Come with me."
Sasuke's frown deepened, but he followed her nonetheless. She led him to the other side of the camp, making sure to tread silently, wary of waking the others. They stopped in front of where Naruto slept. Unlike everyone else, he did not sleep in a tent, choosing instead to rest on a thin bedroll and a blanket. He had loudly claimed that tents were for the weak, and only a Hokage would brave the cold. Sakura had always eaten up this foolishness without a second thought. But now, she wondered...
Sasuke tapped his foot expectantly, dragging her from her thoughts.
"Right," she said, pink dusting her cheeks. That was the second time today she had lost her train of thought while Sasuke was there. Talk about humiliating!
She made the hand-seals for the jutsu without focusing her chakra; running through them once quickly, then slower to show Sasuke exactly what was being done. He activated his Sharingan and traced her movements, copying the seals exactly.
"Sakura..." he said, exasperated, even as he memorized her jutsu.
The pink-haired ninja let her hands drop to her sides, sighing. She explained the jutsu to him as quickly and thoroughly as she could, trying to recall everything Kakashi had taught her.
"Got it?" she said once she had finished.
Sasuke nodded, although he failed to see the relevance.
"Good," Sakura said, then uncrossed one of her arms and jabbing a finger in Naruto's direction. "Now tell me what you see."
Keeping his face carefully free of emotion, Sasuke quickly flipped through the hand-seals and activated the jutsu. He looked down at Naruto. A quiet widening of the eyes and a sharp intake of breath betrayed his shock. "That's... Naruto?"
Sakura nodded solemnly, a worried crease between her eyebrows. "I saw it earlier, after interrogating that spy. I didn't want to say anything, though, not when he was standing right there..."
Sasuke shook his head in amazement, still not fully able to comprehend what he was seeing.
"Where's the party?"
Both awake members of Cell 7 jumped guiltily, turning toward the tired voice. Ino was walking over slowly, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She stopped in front of them, and did a double-take as she took in their worried expressions.
"What's going on?" she asked, running a hand through her blonde hair. "Is something wrong?"
Sakura glanced at Sasuke, and there was a moment's pause before he nodded at her, indicating that she should go ahead. Sakura sighed, something she had been doing a lot of lately. "Ino, go wake up Shikamaru and Chouji. They'll want to hear this."
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Sakura folded her hands and sat, watching the others faces for their reactions.
Chouji looked confused, looking back and forth between Sasuke, Sakura, and the still sleeping Naruto. Shikamaru was sitting with his hands on either side of his head, deep in thought. Ino was shifting slightly, looking like she had no idea of what to make of the whole mess.
"So..." the blonde started hesitantly. "How often... do you think Naruto has been lying?"
There was a long silence before the answer came from Sakura. "I... really don't know. Several times a day, at least, probably for most of his life."
"About what?" Chouji asked, tilting his head in a confused manner, and pulling out another chip from his bag.
Sakura shook her head. She didn't know.
Finally, Shikamaru moved, lifting his head so he could fix everyone else in his vision. "You know what this could mean, right? Naruto could be in collaboration with the enemy. It's the only explanation I cam come up with. As troublesome as it is, we're going to have to interrogate him."
"We could use the jutsu on him," Sakura said, eyes turned inward as she considered. She would never admit it, but she was worried for the energetic blonde.
Shikamaru inclined his head, accepting her idea. Sasuke nodded as well, and Chouji followed suit after a second. Surprisingly, it was Ino who had doubts.
"Guys..." she started, wondering how to phrase this in a way that would make sense. "You know that all my jutsu revolve around the human mind. I have to know exactly how the brain works, so I can take control quickly. And the human mind... It's more fragile than you would think."
Everyone nodded, waiting expectantly.
"If he really has been lying so much, Naruto's mind has a higher risk of snapping under pressure. That happens to liars, they develop this certain mindset, and..." She trailed off, then shook her head as she got back to the point. "Anyways, all the spies I've ever caught in my jutsu, every single one, their minds are like glass. Strong... but brittle."
Simultaneously, the gathered group looked across the clearing to Naruto, who continued to sleep. As they watched, he rolled over, snorting lightly and muttering something before settling back down.
"Sure seems fine..." Chouji muttered, mashing a handful of chips between his teeth. The only sign of his concern was the tightness with which he was gripping his chip bag, crinkling it between his meaty fingers.
Now Sakura looked hesitant as well. "The jutsu had some... negative effects on our prisoner. What if we hurt him? Maybe we should just..."
Sasuke shook his head decisively. "It has to be done."
"Look," said Shikamaru. "I think we can agree we're all worried about Naruto. But Sasuke is right, this can't be avoided. Ino can take over his mind and stop him from hurting himself. It's all we can do."
"I don't know, guys..." said Ino.
But everyone else agreed, and a plan was quickly formed.
Time to discover what Naruto was hiding.
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Ino blinked as she materialized, surprised by the inky darkness that surrounded her.
There was always a moment of confusion when intruding in someone's mind, disorientation as one consciousness adjusted to the presence of another. She had trained herself to get over the feeling quickly, because speed was often to an advantage. However, in this case speed was irrelevant. Naruto was deeply asleep, and the dark state of his mind reflected that. Ino began to walk around aimlessly, her footsteps echoing so that it sounded like there was a crowd of people walking alongside her. Normally, she would head straight to the mind's eye, the center of the mind where she could take control, but she had never taken control of a sleeping person before, and hadn't anticipated the utter darkness that surrounded her.
However... as Ino walked, she began to realize that the dark wasn't completely uniform. Translucent bubbles of different sizes hung in the air, shimmering gently. They were nearly completely transparent, but with none of the reflectivity of glass, which was why she had failed to spot them earlier.
Ino inspected the nearest one curiously. A dream?
She had heard about them from her father, but never seen one herself. Cool! she thought, prodding the bubble gently with two fingers. It rippled and stretched around her fingers, forming to their shape like rubber, but didn't break, as she had expected. A thought occurred to her, and Ino glanced around the dark briefly and guiltily. She really shouldn't. But... A small smile crawled across the blonde's lips, settling there. No one here could see her, right? And the others wouldn't even notice the wait. After all, she was moving at the speed of thought.
She leaned back and brought her hand up, then whipped her body forward quickly, plunging her arm deep into the dream.
There were two seconds of silence, just long enough for Ino to release a disappointed sigh. And then, the bubble exploded in her face, whipping her hair back and forth and engulfing Ino in a terrifying whirlwind of light and sound.
Harsh voices echoing around and through his skull. Hateful words, terrible words, mumbled and indistinct. A face, a hand, streaks of light as he was whipped around. A dagger, falling down like the gallows. Pain.
Ino choked, unable to draw a breath.
Crimson splattering across his vision. Blood. His blood. A circle of evil men. Red eyes, evil eyes, demon eyes. Hurtful eyes. Mocks, taunts, jeers. Vision fading, eaten by darkness. Pain, crimson pain! Again and again and again. Never stopping.
A rough scream tore from Ino's throat.
The dagger again, a silver blur plunging down, down, down. Hot crimson red. Hot, burning! A terrified scream. Pain, pain. PAIN! A scar forming, twisting and turning up his arm. And then... Silence.
Ino stumbled backward, nearly tripping over herself in her haste. The bubble hovered in front of her innocently, it's surface vibrating slightly. As she watched, it began to dissolve from the top down, red droplets seeping down its sides and dripping onto the floor. Soon, there was nothing left but a large red puddle where the bubble had once hung.
That puddle looked suspiciously like blood. Ino shivered and scooted away, mind still reeling with those half-formed visions. Touching her hand to her face, Ino was surprised to find tears coursing down her cheeks, and realized that she was shaking.
Standing, the girl took a large, steadying breath, determinedly looking anywhere but that bloody puddle.
A nightmare? Ino wondered. Looking around at the other bubbles, Ino realized that they weren't as colorless as they had first seemed. Instead, each clear surface had a distinct crimson taint, and some of them looked like they had red liquid pooling near the bottom. Nightmares? All of them? That couldn't be...
Suddenly, something registered in Ino's shocked brain, and she gathered herself together enough to open Naruto's eyes. Cells 7 and 10 were staring at her expectantly, but she ignored them, instead yanking up Naruto's orange sleeves. She stared down at the right arm, a feeling of dull horror stirring in the pit of her stomach. There was a scar there, thick and pink, starting just above the back of his hand and winding up over his forearm and shoulder. Ino felt a shudder travel up her spine, and felt abruptly sick to her stomach.
That hadn't been a nightmare.
It was a memory.
"Uhm, Ino? You in there?" Sakura asked, stepping a little bit closer. Sasuke was watching her warily. Shikamaru crouched just behind them, Ino's body slumped lifelessly in his arms, eyes half-opened and glazed over.
Ino just nodded, feeling Naruto's head nod along with her, not quite trusting her ability to speak. The implications of that memory were to many to consider. This plan won't work... so much could go wrong! I gotta warn the others-
"Shinsou no Jutsu!"
Ino looked up, startled. She hadn't seen them do the hand-signs at all! She opened Naruto's mouth, preparing to shout for them to stop.
Naruto's mind snapped awake.
Sudden, brilliant white light flooded his mind, dazzling and temporarily blinding Ino. By the time she had blinked the stars out of her eyes, the endless black space had reformed, becoming a small room with perfectly white walls. The mind's eye.
And in the middle of the room, directly in front of Ino, stood a very confused, very angry Naruto.
"Ino," he said, glaring at her. "Why the HELL are you in my head?"
Why hadn't she noticed how piercing his gaze was before? Ino felt like he was glaring a hole straight through her. Not knowing what else to do, she explained to him what was happening. As she talked, Naruto's face shifted rapidly from a furious red to a chalky white. She could see the whites all around his irises, and his pupils were dilated with fear.
"Oh no..." he murmured, dropping to the floor, his face in his hands. "Oh no, oh no, oh no..."
Ino stepped forward hesitantly, and awkwardly placed a hand on his shoulder. Abruptly, she realized that she really knew nothing about him, other than he wanted to be the Hokage someday. "Naruto-kun…? Hey, are you alright?"
He turned up to face her, panic written clearly across his every feature. "No! No, I'm not alright! This could ruin everything!"
Ino took her hand off of his shoulder, narrowing her eyes. Suspicion crept into her voice. "Ruin what, Naruto-kun? What are you hiding that's so bad?"
The blond-haired boy leapt up and began pacing around the confines of his own mind, shaking his head back and forth. At Ino's question he glanced at her sharply, pausing, before laughing humorlessly and continuing to pace. "Ino, you have NO idea…"
A shiver ran through Naruto's physical body, one that they both felt.
"It's starting," said Ino unnecessarily, still eyeing him warily.
Somewhere outside the small white room, Sakura asked the first question. Her voice echoed loudly around the small room, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "What is your name?"
Naruto's tense stance relaxed somewhat, and Ino rolled her eyes. What kind of a question was that?
"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said out loud. Ino was allowing him just enough control to be able to speak, but otherwise kept a firm grip on his body, keeping him sitting up with his legs crossed, hands placed neatly on is lap. Ino opened his eyes so they could see their teammates. In the room, it looked like a wide, clear window had appeared on the wall.
"Alright," said Sakura, glancing in Sasuke's direction. "How much do you hate Sasuke?"
" A lot! He's a total basta-" Naruto flinched as Sakura leaned toward them and pulled something invisible out of the air by his ear. "I don't hate him."
In his mind, Naruto had frozen, hands flying up to cover his mouth. His eyes met with Ino's, but before he could say or do anything, Sasuke asked a question.
"Are you a spy?"
"No," Naruto looked thoroughly insulted.
"Have you ever worked for someone, besides Konoha?"
"No!"
Sakura sighed, tugging at Sasuke's sleeve. "This wont get us anywhere, Sasuke-kun. His aura is so black, it's too hard to tell if he's lying or not. We have to go about this some other way."
Sasuke looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded silently to himself. Leaning forward, he fisted his hands in what looked like thin air above Naruto. "Pull, Sakura."
She mimicked his movements, and together they both leaned back, dragging their arms through the air slowly, as though pulling on some great resistance.
A wave of pain shot through Naruto's body, and he screamed in surprise and agony, doubling over and clutching at his head. Ino cringed, some of his pain overflowing into her. When Naruto straightened, sweat was beading on his forehead, and his eyes were just a little dimmer than before. Sasuke and Sakura grabbed again and yanked, pulling away Naruto's lies, inch by painful inch. It was a slow and painful process, for all of them. Naruto's body never moved beyond the occasional twitch, but his screams were heard by everyone there. They were harsh and sobbing, pleading for them to stop. Sakura felt a dampness in the corners of her own eyes, Sasuke was biting his lower lip, and both Shikamaru and Chouji looked more worried than ever.
Inside his mind, Naruto had fallen to the floor, writhing and screaming, twisting, turning, crying out for the pain to stop. His face was twisted in suffering, eyes squeezed shut tightly, teeth grinding together helplessly.
Helplessly, Ino knelt beside him, trying to hold him down with only minimal success. She became aware that she was murmuring softly, trying to calm Naruto down, but she too was beginning to feel the pain tearing away at her insides, echoes from his own body. Still, she tried, holding his head down firmly as his body thrashed about wildly. It took her awhile to notice that the room was changing, shifting before her eyes. The formerly white walls were fading to a dingy, dark gray. Splattered patches of black kept appearing, like someone had spilled ink across the walls, only to be wiped clean a second later. Red lines, like red veins, were spreading from the corners. Ino shut her eyes firmly against the somehow disturbing sight.
Finally, after what felt like hours upon hours, the pressure was released.
Naruto's body stopped it's convulsions, lying still on the floor. Heavy panting filled the room. Ino opened her eyes slowly, afraid of what she might see.
She gasped.
Naruto was gazing up at her, his eyes so utterly blank that, for a second, she thought he had died. They had gone from a sunny sky color to something that resembled the moments before a storm, deep blue and stormy. His mouth was twisted downwards in a grimace of pain, but not the physical pain of what he had just endured. No, this was an inner pain that Ino could've never imagined, the pain of someone that's lost all hope. His misery and despair were almost palpable.
He winced at her horrified expression, the pushed her hands away from his face, picking himself up, wincing. The walls of his mind had settled on a peeling dark grey, with black streaks smeared vertically from floor to ceiling. Naruto stood, his bright hair and clothes at complete odds with his eyes and surroundings. The change from the from the Naruto that they all knew was... stunning.
"N...Naruto?"
Both Naruto and Ino turned to look out the window, at their teammates, who looked just about as shocked as Ino felt. It was Sakura who had spoken, her hand pressed against her mouth. "Naruto... is that you?"
A small, sad smile crossed swiftly across Naruto's face, and he shook his head. "Sakura-chan... the Naruto you know died a long time ago..."
Shikamaru's eyes were wide. "What happened to you?!"
"Nothing!" Naruto chirped, a wide smile plastering itself easily across his face. They all knew that grin, Naruto wore it often. But now they could see that the grin was just a bit too wide, his tone just a bit too forced.
Sakura hesitated for the briefest of seconds before pulling the lie away. Naruto moaned softly in pain. "The... the v-villagers... did..." He stuttered out reluctantly. Ino watched him carefully, noting the way he swayed where he stood, obviously weakened.
"Naruto..." she started, extending a hand to Naruto. However, Sasuke, unable to hear Ino, cut over her loudly.
"What do you mean, the villagers? What did they do?"
"They… did… nothing!" Naruto ground out painfully.
"Naruto, please, what did they do?" Even though Sakura's words were soft, the chakra-coated hand that yanked away the lie was merciless.
"...attacked me..." Naruto said, through clenched teeth, hating himself for giving in. The walls around them darkened a shade.
"Attacked you? Why?" That was Chouji, frowning in consternation.
"No reason!" Naruto's voice was desperate, terrified of where this line of questions would lead. He began to struggle, trying to regain control of his body so he could flee. Ino grimaced in sympathy, wanting more than anything to release him, but he would just be a danger to himself at this point. She kept a firm hold on him.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she said when he looked at her pleadingly. "They're trying to help you."
"Why are they attacking you?!" Sasuke snarled, reaching out with his own chakra.
A scream echoed around the rapidly deteriorating room as Naruto fell back down to his knees, unable to resist in his weakened state. "...T-the... Kyuubi..."
It was the barest whisper, so quiet that even Ino had to strain to hear it. And yet, it seemed far too loud in the utterly complete silence that followed.
Shikamaru had looked up sharply, his quick mind beginning to piece it all together. Chouji jumped a little, liking this situation less and less. Sakura just looked stunned, while Sasuke frowned. "What does the Kyuubi have to do with you and the villagers?"
"NO!" Naruto cried loudly.
Sasuke scowled. "Tell us, Naruto!"
The raven-haired ninja pulled hard, but Naruto refused to give in. "No..." he whispered, falling from his knees to the ground, head clutched between his hands, face contorted as he resisted Sasuke's pull. "No...no, no, NO!!"
Sasuke growled and pumped more chakra to his hands. "Sakura, help me!"
Sakura hesitated, gaze darting between Naruto, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, and Sasuke, who glared at her impatiently. Finally, she stepped forward and joined it, pulling alongside Sasuke.
Naruto wailed in pain and horror, continuing to fight with every ounce of his will. Tears began to flow freely down his cheeks as the pressure on him increased. But he refused to give in, protecting his last secret with everything he had. His fingers tore into his hair and he moaned softly, writhing, with no longer the energy to scream.
Ino dropped to her knees next to him, ignoring her own pain because she knew it could only be a fraction of what Naruto was feeling. She too began to cry, large, silent tears that rolled down her face and dripped off her chin. She grabbed on tightly to his orange-clad arm, feeling him trembling relentlessly and violently underneath her fingers. He began to spasm uncontrollably, and blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth, staining his teeth red. He had bitten his tongue.
Terrified, Ino realized that Naruto was reaching his limit. She seized control of his mouth and screamed. "Stop it! STOP!! You're hurting him!"
Sakura shook her head slightly, gritting her teeth and ignoring the wayward tear that slipped down her cheek.
Ino wailed her aggravation and turned back to the mind-Naruto. She wedged her hands and arms underneath him, dragging him up so that his head rested on her lap. He looked at her through hazy, dull, pain-filled eyes, and coughed, splattering blood drops across her front. Ino didn't think he could even recognize her.
"Hang on, Naruto. Please. It'll be over soon," she said frantically. Releasing him wasn't an option at this point. He needed someone here, with him.
She had to help him through this.
All of a sudden, Naruto's back arched, and every muscle in his body tensed. His mouth opened in a silent scream as the tears flowed faster and faster down over his scarred cheeks. The entire room flashed red, and a crack split the wall directly behind Ino. A triumphant smirk spread across Sasuke's face.
"THE KYUUBI IS SEALED INSIDE OF ME!!" Naruto screamed, fists clenching, body rigid. Teardrops spotted the ground as he collapsed, sobbing.
Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino gazed at Naruto in silent shock. The only sound that could be heard was Naruto's wild, heaving sobs.
"What?" Chouji asked, looking between Sakura and Sasuke. "H-he's lying... right?"
Slowly, weakly, Sakura shook her head, never taking her eyes off of the broken boy in front of her. "No," she said, not believing her own words. "He's... he's telling the truth."
"He was sealed into me during the Kyuubi attack by the Fourth Hokage." Naruto let out a choking sob, and covered his face with his hands, trying to stop his own words. "I was an unknown orphan. No one knew my parents, or my village. I was the perfect candidate."
A raging bitterness tainted the air of Naruto's mind, mixing strongly and dangerously with the anger, fear, and sadness already clouding his mind. The crack in the wall grew slightly with a groaning noise. Ino didn't notice, overwhelmed by the sheer force and intensity of Naruto's emotion.
"No..." Sasuke stared down at Naruto, disbelief written plainly across his face. Slowly, his face twisted into a fierce frown. "That can't be true. He's got to be lying!"
Sasuke reached down and picked up Naruto easily by his jacket collar. Ino was too disoriented to do anything about it, and Naruto had no control. So he simply hung limply in Sasuke's grasp, even when the other shook him firmly, like a rag-doll. "Tell the truth, dobe!!" he yelled, face mere inches from Naruto's. "Stop LYING!!"
Naruto broke.
His mind made a delicate tinkling noise as it shattered into a hundred glass shards.
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She tumbled through darkness, falling, falling. Her control was completely gone, leaving her with nothing to halt her sharp descent.
"Naruto!" she shouted as she fell, her hair whipping up into her face.
Her voice echoed and rebounded around her, until she had a ghostly chorus falling alongside of her. "Naruto...Naruto... Naruto..."
There was no answer. And she kept falling.
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Naruto's hand darted up, grabbing Sasuke around the neck.
"I'M. NOT. LYING!!" he screamed at Sasuke, fury boiling behind every word. His eyes flew up to meet Sasuke's. They were crimson red, the color of freshly spilled blood. His nails lengthened into claws, which dug briefly into Sasuke's neck, before Naruto threw him, sending him flying across the clearing where he smashed into a tree, sliding down the trunk amongst a cloud of bark and splinters.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted, running to his side, helping him into a sitting position.
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M LYING TO YOU?!" Naruto snarled, curling his lip to reveal large, dangerously sharp canines. "No, scratch that. Because I HAVE been lying about this. I've been LYING my WHOLE DAMN LIFE!"
Abruptly he whirled, facing Sakura.
"And YOU," he said, voice raspy and hate-filled. "You had to go and RUIN IT!"
Sakura cringed and seemed to shrink, looking up at Naruto with wide, pleading eyes. "Naruto…listen to me p-please! We were worried about you… it was for your own good…"
"Like hell it was! You were ALL too damn curious for your own good!" he glared at Shikamaru and Chouji, who had been slowly creeping around his side, trying to get closer to where Sasuke had fallen. Ino's body was left to the side, propped up loosely against a tree-trunk. "You will PAY!"
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Suddenly, a gleam of red shone through the darkness. She twisted toward it, following the light like a moth, searching for it's source. Vaguely, she realized that she was no longer falling.
"Naruto!" she shouted again, seeing him in the distance. He ignored her, too busy confronting the outside world to notice the small intrusion. His body was cloaked in deep, red energy that swirled around him like a malevolent cape.
She got closer, hesitating, feeling the heat of that energy. But now that she was close, she could hear what he was saying, and realized that without intervention someone was going to get hurt.
Darting forward, she reached through that burning red chakra and grabbed Naruto's shoulders shaking him firmly.
"NARUTO! Listen to yourself!"
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Naruto stopped in mid stride, only a few paces away from Sakura.
"They deserve it," he snapped, appearing for all the world like he was talking into thin air. "You know that they do!"
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Her voice was calm and clear, trying to make him listen to reason. The evil chakra bubbled and burned where it touched her skin, but the mind is stronger than the body, and she disregarded the feeling.
"Is that Naruto speaking?" she said, meeting his eyes. "Because, right now, you sound like the Kyuubi."
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Naruto froze suddenly, standing stock-still. His eyes widened in horror as he stared down at the limp Sasuke and crying Sakura. Slowly, the blood color began to fade from his eyes. "I…"
"I don't know who I am," he said softly. "I've been hiding for so long…"
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The red energy faded away slowly, then faster as it disappeared completely. Around them, the room began to reform as he pulled himself together.
"It's okay now," she said, reassuring both of them. Those few seconds had felt like an eternity. Naruto was still angry, but it was no longer the murderous rage of seconds before. She could feel his honest horror at losing control like that. "Just, please… relax."
Naruto snorted, but the tiniest of smiles tugged at his lips. "You're only saying that 'cause you're in my head."
Their eyes met, and a silent conversation took place. Naruto's eyes were pleading, seeking acceptance. She could do that. She opened her mind to him, letting him feel her acknowledgement of who he was.
Naruto smiled.
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Slowly, at first, then faster, Naruto's body began to change. His stance relaxed, and he took a step away from Sakura. Long, sharp claws shrunk, becoming blunt human fingers once more. His fangs retreated back into his gums. The red disappeared completely from his eyes, leaving them a blue once more. They still weren't the happy blue everyone was used to, but it was a start.
All probably would have ended there, had not Sasuke decided to speak up.
"So that's it!" he scoffed from his position on the ground, picking himself up slowly and wiping a drop of blood off of his chin. "You're just a leech, borrowing somebody else's power! You're no better than a THIEF! Isn't that right, dobe!"
"NO!" Ino shouted, but it was too late.
A great force ripped her from Naruto's mind, casting her back into her body only seconds before a giant pulse of red chakra was blasted out from his body.
Ino slammed into her body, jolting awake, eyes flying open. She saw the great wave drawing closer, and barely had time to cross her arms in front of her in defense before it surged over her. At first, it was nothing more than a strong wind, rippling her clothes and causing her hair to stream out behind her in a golden wave. Small twigs flew through the air, slicing into her pale skin. Then came the heat, scorching the forest floor like a wind from Hell. Ino shut her eyes again, waiting for the pain.
A large roaring hit her ears, the delayed sound of the explosion, and then, silence. No pain came.
After waiting a minute, Ino eased open her eyes carefully.
The forest floor was charred and smoking on both sides of her, only inches from the tips of her feet. The pulse had curved around her, leaving her unharmed, but annihilating the trees everywhere else. Traveling in a perfect circle, the demonic chakra had burned at least a quarter mile of the forest in all directions. Naruto stood directly in the middle, looking down at the ground, eyes shadowed.
Ino shivered, but realized that if he was going to attack her, he would have done so already. Instead, she quickly glanced around for the others. They hadn't been as lucky as she. Sakura was lying limp in front of a tree. There were burns across the fronts of her arms, and her hair was smoking gently. Shikamaru was a few feet behind her, red and black streaks all the way up his chest, shirt burnt mostly away. Chouji had been thrown far to the side, he was unconscious, but seemed to have avoided any serious burns.
Sasuke, however, was a bloody, burnt mess, having taken most of the blast head-on. He was lying in a crumpled heap in the dirt, marks in the ash evidence of a long skid across the ground. Large swaths of his skin were burnt bright red, and already appeared to be oozing. His back rose and fell slightly, air making an audible whistling as it ran through dried-out lips. Some detached part of Ino marveled at the fact he was breathing at all.
She turned back to Naruto.
He hadn't moved, except for a slight flexing in the claws of his right hand in a repetitive, absent-minded gesture. She still couldn't see his eyes.
"Naruto?" she called, standing up and dusting the dirt off her knees distractedly, never looking away from his tense figure. "Naruto... are you..."
His head darted up swiftly in an animalistic manner, a startled predator. Ino forced herself to remain steady and look him straight in his eyes, his bloody, slitted eyes. Neither moved as they stared at each other, and Ino realized that he was just as lost and confused as she felt right then.
"Naruto..." she began again, still not entirely sure what she was trying to say.
An approaching chakra signature tickled at the back of Ino's mind, and from the way Naruto twitched, she knew that he had felt it too. She sighed. Of course someone would have felt that chakra pulse, especially so close to Konoha...
"You'd better get out of here," she said softly.
Naruto crouched low to the ground, swiveled, and darted across the barren dirt until he reached the untouched forest. He never looked back.
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Ino didn't move from where she stood, not at the arrival of several Konoha ninja, not at their frantic voices and questions, not at the sight of her teammates being hauled onto makeshift stretchers.
She just stared silently at the place where Naruto had disappeared into the woods, and wondered why things had turned out this way.
Finally, she seemed to come awake, as though from a trance, and began to walk slowly away from that destroyed wasteland.
I won't forget you... Uzumaki Naruto...
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A faint, insistent beeping filled the air, seeming to echo slightly. It was slightly chilly, and the air was laden by the smells of antibiotics, soaps, and metals. Someone was sitting nearby, their breath soft and regular, like one asleep.
Sakura opened her eyes.
She was lying on a hospital bed, propped up slightly against several thick pillows, covered in a clean white sheet. Kakashi sat directly across from her, his back slumped as he slept soundly, sitting on a small couch. Sakura turned her head to the side and gasped softly, seeing the battered, bandaged Sasuke lying unconscious in a second bed.
"Sakura?" Kakashi asked, standing up, not looking the least bit tired. Maybe he hadn't been as asleep as she had thought.
"K..." she began, then cleared her throat, surprised by the roughness of her voice. "Kakashi-sensei. What's going on? Why is Sasuke-kun..."
Kakashi's one eye gazed at her, expression unreadable. "You don't remember?"
Jade eyes opened wide as memories came back slowly. Sakura fell back onto her pillows, staring blankly at the ceiling as she remembered the recent events. "How is he?" she asked, closing her eyes.
"Sasuke? He'll be fine, Tsunade has-"
"No, how's Naruto?" Sakura interrupted, trying to fight the drugs in her system. She was so sleepy...
Kakashi looked down, and though she didn't see it, sadness clouded his features briefly. "Naruto is gone."
Sakura jolted up, panic written clearly in her motion. Frantic eyes turned to Kakashi. "He's not...!"
Realizing his error, Kakashi waved his hands at Sakura in a claming gesture. "He's not dead. He's just... gone."
Sakura frowned at him in sleepy confusion.
"He disappeared after attacking you and the others. No one has seen him since. It's like he's vanished off the face of the earth," Kakashi's voice was solemn and gentle.
"Oh…" Sakura sighed, slumping back into the cushions, "At least he's not dead. I… we… We really hurt him, didn't we?"
Kakashi didn't answer, but he didn't have to. A tear slipped out from under her dark eyelashes, running sideways down her face and into the bubblegum hair spread across her pillow, and she stifled a small sob. Slowly, she drifted back into sleep, unable to fight the drugs in her system any longer. Kakashi remained for another few minutes, making sure she was really sleeping again, before standing and slouching out into the hallway. His stance was relaxed, his step casual, everything carefully calculated to appear normal and unconcerned with recent events, when, in reality, he was anything but at ease.
Thrice I have failed Naruto, he thought sadly. Once, when he had turned him away in favor of his more prized pupil. And twice after that, when he had handed his friends the tools needed to kill him.
He had been forgiven for the first two times. He wondered if he's be as lucky for the third.
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Gossip always travels quickly through a village, a running electric current that sparks interest and news, using people as its medium. When word came that the Kyuubi-vessel had gone beserk and run away from the village, the entire population of the village knew about it within hours.
There were small riots, people demanding that they send out an elimination squad, but they were settled quickly and quietly. The excitement died down after awhile, and the villagers turned their attention to other matters at hand.
However, there was always that nagging fear in the back of their minds that one day, Naruto would return. And that when he did, he would come seeking revenge.
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Looking back now, at the events that got me here, I laugh long and hard at my former teammates. They didn't realize it at the time, and neither did I, but they actually did me a large favor.
They set me free.
I had never realized how much my mask weighed me down, slowing my every movement like a suit of lead. It had been a constant distraction, drawing away my attention from the things that truly mattered. Without it, my full potential was released.
I bartered with the Kyuubi to bring down the Akatsuki, though it's still not a task fully completed. Orochimaru eventually fell, prey to his own hunger for power in the end, and I took command of the Sound Village in his stead. It's not exactly being the Hokage, and there is much work to be done here, but it's enough to satisfy me.
Also, against all odds, I feel in love with a beautiful girl. A girl who was with me through my toughest time, a girl who accepts me without hesitation for who I am.
So now I laugh at Sakura, and her feeble attempts at making amends. Doesn't she know that I don't forgive as easily as I used to? And I laugh at Sasuke, and his stubborn silence. I never needed his approval after all.
I laugh at them all, because I am free.
My entire life's story has been rewritten.
All because of one simple little jutsu.
One simple little jutsu that could detect lies.
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End.
Ah. I apologize for the heavy amounts of angst toward the middle. But the end was a little happier... right?
Retyping this, my word count almost doubled. I'm a lot more content with this story now, whereas before I regarded it rather critically.
-Insert customary plea for reviews here-
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