Summary - When we lost everything, tomorrow became just a hope. Now the chance to get it back had come, but the question is.. will we be able to? ...
Pairings - Main- ItaNaru, KakaIru and ShikaTema, GaaNeji...others will be mentioned since they're not decided yet.
Day 2 – I don't want to be alone..
The desolated land was not much of a beautiful scenery. The brown deserted land, abandoned houses and mansions that were in the city limits were a contradiction to what it was 10 years ago. The greenery was gone, the huge buildings that showed wealth and power had vanished, the bustling crowds and shop stands were destroyed. All that was left was this; A barren no man's land. People had sought out the security and needs that were given from the 'towers'. The five great towers were the last stand of humans against the experiments that had run wild. There were cities that still lived, but they were so scarce that they had come to be known as the oases in the deserts.
"So much for the power of humans" the blond man in the passenger seat closed his eyes. The occasional deep rumbling from the corner of his mind told him that the demon was sleeping. And he wondered why he felt lonely.
The car ride was mostly silent except for the girls in the back questioning Konohamaru about what happened. Naruto wondered whether they will be surprised, especially Sakura, to hear that he did this mission alone. After all they remembered him to be the 'dobe' of the team and first impressions always gets stuck in the minds.
He looked at the girl from Sasuke's latest team, Team Taka(eagle), from the rear view mirror. From what he had been briefed about the team's abilities she was their sensor and a pretty good one. He caught her eyeing the Uchiha often and didn't need to think twice.
"Hey, who are you again?", Naruto almost sighed at the question. "Here we go"
"My name is Naruto." He guessed from the irked expression that she had been expecting a lot more than that, he mentally snorted at the shallowness of the girl.
"I know what your name is; I meant who you are, as in what is your connection to all of this." Karin wanted to give the man a piece of her punch but she didn't think it will bode well with Sasuke.
"I'm the agent assigned to the mission to rescue Sarutobi Konohamaru, who got caught during his team's mission to infiltrating the trading joint #35 in Black river crescent."
Karin didn't know what surprised her, whether it was the detached tone he was using or how huge the difference of his present personality was from the one he was described by the others. But she didn't get to contemplate much of this.
"Why are you starting to act like Sasuke-kun Naruto-baka(idiot). Stop that, it's annoying." The condensing words from his ex-teammate didn't seem to reach Naruto. Sakura fumed silently.
She looked at the blond man , the same man who had promised a lot to them and then had disappeared from all of their worlds, and now sitting in front of her like he had been there all the time. He infuriated her, and she didn't know why.. "He has changed so much." Her eyes narrowed in thought.
"Where have you been all this time Naruto?", her green eyes were keen. And Naruto saw the suspicion in them.
"I've been doing missions all this time Sakura, if you had asked Tsunade she would've told you so." His azure eyes sought out her emerald ones when he spoke, "I'm sure you must have already done that." Azure eyes flickered to the left, where the ebony haired man was driving the car. "And I know Sasuke has."
Sasuke didn't show any signs of hearing Naruto, but the blond knew that the man was listening to everything that was said in the car. And Naruto also knew that he had to be careful around the Uchiha. Because Sasuke was the connection to everything that chased him.
"There's also something else. Sasuke, I sensed two more auras when Naruto came with the boy." Konohamaru glared at Karin at the last comment but she ignored him, preferring to look at the dark eyes of the Uchiha as he looked at her from the rear view mirror. She didn't notice the way the blond man tensed when she said it, but the dark eyes did.
"I recognized those two auras. It was your brother and his Akatsuki partner." Karin waited for her words to make the impact, and she inwardly smiled when Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I think they might've come for the boy but I'm not sure."
"No, he didn't come for the boy. He came for someone else." Sasuke's eyes looked to the blond in his right when he spoke, but the said man didn't acknowledge the gesture.
"What do you mean? Akatsuki came for me didn't they? Because I knew what happened at the Black river accident? I was there when it happened." Konohamaru didn't know what the Uchiha had said but had an inkling. He was going to surpass Naruto, and he was important too, damn it!
"Akatsuki already know what happened there, as we all do. You played your part but it's not important now. You're getting hunted because the government wants a criminal to pin for the accident, and you who was caught at the it is their only chance. Akatsuki works for the government; they must have wanted someone powerful so that you won't escape." Sasuke's monotone drawl didn't sooth the teenage boy's anger.
"I am the only survivor of the Sarutobi clan. I am more important than a no name like Naruto.", his irritation grew when none of the men even looked at him. "I'll show them, I'll show how I grew up, Naruto. You weren't here to see what I went through to get here."
"I don't know about the no name part, boy. But he's a lot more valuable than you are. Sure your clan name gives you some importance, but this man is ranked top in the agents."
Sakura looked at the redhead woman when she spoke. "What do you mean? Isn't he just a B-class? That's what his rank was before."
Karin pushed up her glasses in annoyance before replying to the medic."No, from what I read in his files before we came here," she looked at the medic, "which you should have done too, his rank is SS-class, and under the demon category."
The woman looked up at the rearview when she felt an intense gaze on her and felt a shiver at the azure eyes looking at her in deep concentration. "Those eyes.. what are they looking for?". Karin felt fear crawling into her mind.
"You have done your homework it seems, Karin-san. I had hoped that none would know about that." Naruto's deep melodic voice snapped the redhead out of her musing. She hid her eyes behind her glasses.
"I am an information gatherer so I always need to know what and who I am with. Since you have been gone for a long time I needed to recheck everything."
"Well I think your information is wrong Karin. There's no way that the dobe(idiot) would have a rank that high. The SS-class is reserved for the sannin and extremely powerful agents. And Naruto's none of those."
Karin huffed and glared at the medic. "My information is never wrong you annoying woman." Sakura's eyebrows twitched. "It's not my problem if you don't know anything. And you're even supposed to be the next sannin who will replace Tsunade. Sasuke is already the hebi(snake) sannin, and you will be the namekuji(slug) sannin and the gama(frog) sannin position is still unfilled because no one could find Jiraiya-sama's will and Tsunade-sama would not let anyone fill that position. She seemed to have been waiting for someone. That was until two days ago."
"What do you mean?" Sakura's confused voice filled the sudden silence in the car. Sasuke had stopped the car in front of a rare gas station.
"The new gama sannin was named in two days ago and the updated bingo book arrived last night." Karin's eyes held the blank azure gaze looking at her.
"Jiraiya-sama's successor is named Namikaze Naruto. And currently in the bingo book he's named under the Konoha rookie nine, but…" Karin's voice trailed off uncertainly.
"But what Karin?" At the Uchiha's voice red eyes snapped towards him. They glanced at the blond man for a split second before Karin answered. "His name, Namikaze, it means that he's related to the Yondaime Hokage."
Green eyes and black eyes widened and Konohamaru gasped. "What do you mean related to the Yondaime-sama?" Konohamaru raged before his attention shifted to the silent blond.
"Why do you have his name Naruto?" Naruto looked at the boy, the one who had looked up to him a long time ago. "Time changes everything eh? But I never thought the bingo book had that much information in it."
"Namikaze Minato, known to most as Yondaime was my father." And with that he got off the car and approached the fuel tank without waiting to see their reactions.
"Fufufu… way to tell them everything little human. Or are you sure you can hide after this?"
Blue eyes narrowed at the machine, "Why are you awake?"
"Because I want to be of course. You do know that you can never control me little human?"
Naruto punched the buttons fiercely, wishing that it was the face of the demon. "I will one day. I will, and you won't be able to do anything". He felt the deep rumbling growl that meant that the demon was laughing and suddenly felt very small.
"And what will you do if you ever gain that kind of power little human? Make me stay by you forever?". Naruto unconsciously tightened his grip on the handle of the gas pump. "You cannot let me go little human. I am you as much as you are me. We cannot be separated. But do not worry since you won't gain that kind of power I will be here always."
"I am not like you, I will never be like you, demon!". The threat was empty, and they both knew that. He felt like a child when he heard the Kyuubi laugh again, alone in his apartment and hoping people won't come again for him.
He remembered hiding under the covers, talking to the demon, telling it his dreams and hopes, his wishes that were meant to be hidden. But the Kyuubi never said anything about them, it listened and laughed, but still he was comforted. He knew that the demon will never leave him and he felt frightened when the Akatsuki came, trying to take it away from him. Because he was selfish, because he wished never to be parted with it, because in the end the demon was the only thing that stayed with him.
"Because you never want to be alone, little human."
Azure eyes closed as he felt the demon. He stayed like that, feeling the presence of the demon as it did the same with him.
His senses jolted when he felt the strong aura suddenly. His shock only increased when he recognized to whom those auras belonged to.
"Oh ho, it looks like he followed you, little human. So, what will you do now?"
Naruto quickly snapped the pump into the machine and ran to the side of the car and got in. just as he was inside the car took off.
"How far are they, Karin?" Sasuke's voice held a strange emotion in it.
"Not that far, Sasuke. About 15 or 20 miles behind. How did I not sense this before?"
"Uchiha Itachi is not someone who can be detected by senses. If he is, that means he wants you to know where he is." "Why the hell would he come here? Don't tell me that they're really after the boy."
"There's a chance that they are after the boy. They wouldn't come this far just to get you, dobe." Naruto looked at the ebony haired man looking at him and nodded. They both ignored the shouts of "I told you so" coming from the back seat.
"There's something else though. Konohamaru said that he's going to fight for 'Tomorrow' back at sitting sun. The guards must've notified them." "Little human, they are close."
Sasuke glared at him before looking back from the side view mirror and cursing. "Why the hell did you let him even mention that name?"
Naruto sighed. "I was fighting and I thought that the boy was smart enough not to attract attention. Apparently I was very wrong."
"What in the world made you even say that name in the middle of the government dogs, Konohamaru?". The teenage boy hung his head at the irate shouting from the pink haired medic.
"Sasuke, we should really speed up. They're getting awfully close and this is a damn highway." Karin wasn't scared; no she was just scared for Sasuke. Or that what she told herself.
"I'll put up a barrier, you need to get a move on at that time." Naruto closed his eyes in concentration. He didn't even get a second before the he was pulled into his mind and the half transparent figure materialized in front of the bars in the sewer.
"Long time no see, Naruto-kun."
"Dobe, what's wrong?" Sasuke's voice had no effect on the frozen blond. "Sakura, snap him out of whatever he's in. We need his barrier if he can cast it."
"Hai(yes) Sasuke-kun" She reached forward between the two front seats to grasp the shoulder of the blond man and shook him. But he didn't even budge. "OI, Naruto. What the hell are you doing, idiot! Now is not the time for your silly pranks."
"Maybe he can't even do it. Probably bluffing." Karin glared at the boy next to her. She knew the boy was scared but so was she.
"At least he had an idea what to do. What can you do, brat?" Konohamaru's brown eyes glared at the red haired female.
"How far can you run, Naruto?"
Everyone in the car tensed when the blond man grabbed his head and started to scream.
"Kuso(damn). Sakura do something quickly. Karin how far away are they now?". Karin was shocked to hear a tone of urgency from the normally monotone voice of the Uchiha.
"Sasuke-kun he's in a genjutsu. I can't snap him out of it. His body rejects my powers."
"Sasuke, they're about 5 miles behind us. We should be able to see them. And also," Karin looked at the windshield, "they're not coming from behind Sasuke. They're coming from the front."
"Nani(what)?!", Sakura was a skilled medic agent and she prided herself on being one of the best, she had seen people at their worst and also had seen how they changed. But as she looked at Naruto now, clutching his head and screaming in agony, she wondered what she had learnt.
Sasuke served the car around before pressing his foot on the accelerator and speeding off on to the opposite. But he knew that if Itachi was serious on catching them, nothing would stop him. Sasuke was an all round fighter but he couldn't do anything when he was driving a car. "That useless dobe, having a nervous breakdown at a time like this."
"Kyuubi!! Stop him! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! I don't want to remember. Please don't make me remember.."
His demon was cut off from him. But it was in pain too. He can hear it roar in rage and pain but he couldn't help it. Not when he was also in so much pain that he couldn't move. "Why would Itachi do this to them? Why?"
He tried to stop the flashes, the memories that had long repressed of his childhood and the years he went after that man. It went on and on like a film roll, one after the other they played in front of him, but he couldn't touch them. To erase them, rip them off. To stop remembering.
"Do you think you can outrun me Naruto? You know you will never be able to do it. Not when I am a part of you, and you are a part of me. I will always find you, no matter what."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You don't know anything! All you Uchihas.." His one red eye and the other blue eye glared at the half transparent figure in the sewer. "You will never know, because I will not let you."
"How amusing. So what can you do Naruto-kun?"
"I will show you. I will never be a part of you, Uchiha Itachi!"
Sakura stopped shaking the blond when he suddenly went silent and stiff, the others in car also turning to look at him. She gave a sigh of relief and sat back down.
She froze when the car was suddenly filled with an enormous aura. It made the air still and heavy, and then vibrate. Her eyes widened when Naruto lifted his head and turn his head to the back, and Sakura saw an abyss for irises and fire for pupils. And she fainted.
"Sakura-san!" Konohamaru scrambled to awaken the unconscious female. "What the hell did you do, bastard?!"
"Stop Konohamaru." The boy suddenly stilled at the firm command from the front. "Don't look into his eyes. Sakura will be fine."
He started to feel scared when the air vibrated with even more intensity than before. Naruto took one deep breath before focusing his eyes and muttering under his breath. And Konohamaru felt the barrier come up in thin air around the car.
"Hurry up Sasuke. We need to get into the force field." Naruto turned back on his seat and closed his eyes tiredly. "The Uchiha's presence is gone, little human."
"I'm going as fast as this stupid car can go, dobe."
"What the hell was that about? You started screaming and having a nervous break down and now you're putting up barriers?"
"Not now Konohamaru. Your questions will have to wait."
Konohamaru was about to protest when a firm grip took hold of his arm. Karin shook her head at him. Konohamaru pouted but didn't do anything, turning his attention into the fainted female.
The rest of the car ride went in silence.
"What are we going to do, Itachi-san?", Kisame wondered what happened between the blond brat and the Uchiha but dared not ask.
"We will go back and report to Leader-sama."
"I will never be a part of you, Uchiha Itachi!"
Kisame also didn't comment on the amused expression on hi partner's face, after all he valued his life.
Please R&R.. and story alerts helps a lot too. Thanks for reading! ^_^
