GIMME MORE REVIEWS!!!!!! But thank you very much for the ones you've already given. I hope my ''emo-state'' permeated well throughout the chapter...no I am not actively an emo. Now read and enjoy and review...or else...
Chapter 2: Reign Over Me
-''What happened?''
Naruto looked up at his sensei, vision blurred with tears. Kakashi immediately, upon seeing his sorry state, cancelled the day's training. He then dragged the boy to a secluded part of the forest, setting down on the ground to talk. The blonde shook his head in disaffirmation.
-''I know that something's wrong. You look dead on your feet, Sasuke's clinging to Sakura...'' A small, almost indistinguishable sob escaped the teen's full lips, his eyes shutting tightly. The boy finally spoke, his voice shaking tremendously.
-''He left...after everything we've been through...after...after he promised...after I told him I loved him...he...he just...just turned his back and left...he promised.'' Tears were falling down the boy's cheeks rivulets. Even Kakashi had a frown on his face, his eyes gaining an almost desperate look. The blonde was now curled around himself, his cries reverberating in the isolated forest. The older man took a deep breath contemplating his course of action. He finally reached over to his student and, after careful consideration, envelopped him in a calming embrace. ''It'll be okay. I promise. And I always keep my word.'' He softly turned up the boy's head and their eyes met. ''I won't let you get hurt again, not by anyone.''
As the day drifted away, Kakashi held Naruto protectively, latching onto the small amount of light Konoha's sun still possessed. He would not let go...he would never let go.
When the blonde finally fell asleep, a peaceful expression on his previously anguished face, dry tears streaking his scarred cheeks, Kakashi carried him back to his appartment. The silver haired man was torn between conflicting emotions; disappointment towards Sasuke for underestimating the value of his former relationship with the other boy, worry for Naruto's emotional state, anger towards Fate for never showing the blonde his true worth and towards himself for not having realized his student's loneliness.
The copy cat shook his head and turned around, heading for his home. Hopefully the next day would come bearing less problems. As he walked through the lonely streets of his village he noticed with slight amusement that he not once during the day read his precious orange book.
Dawn broke across the vast plains of the Konoha Forest slowly illuminating the numerous houses scattered around the town. In a particularly run down appartment building a boy, started waking from his deep slumber. His eyes opened and he took in his surroundings as memories from the previous night invaded his tired mind. A long sigh escaped his mouth and he pushed himself out of his bed. Trudging slowly towards his bathroom, he prepared himself for a new and hopefelly less weighing day.
As he passed by his bedside table a few moments later, he caught a glimpse of a picture. Old and rumpled, it stood proudly. He picked it up, a slightly sad smile forming on his lips. A thumb stroked one of the faces thoughtfully in some sort of distant wonder. He then placed, almost reverently, the picture back in its place and headed out the door.
In the silence of the solitary and cold appartment, the picture of the young Team 7 gleamed. Their smiling faces in it suddenly seemed so far away. So old in their ignorance.
Endless black eyes watched as a blonde boy calmly walked to a wooden bridge and sat silently on the planks. Sasuke confusedly observed as, just like the previous day, the now darkly clothed boy did not utter a sound or move in the slightest. He could not fathom the transformation the other had gone through. How could one person change so drastically from one day to another? His head turned towards the person snuggling into his side. But then again, to others, he also must seem completely different. His fingers threaded through soft pink hair and he let his eyes rest closed. He shut out the part of him that was screaming for silky golden hair instead.
The day passed by quickly, the simple tasks assigned to Team 7 were finished efficiently with no complaints. To any outside observer the D-classed missions were completed perfectly, but to a skilled gaze the lack of teamwork was apparent.
Kakashi signaled the end of the day's work and dismissed his students. However he called back the youngest, bidding the other two a nice evening. The remaining team members watched the couple vanish in the distance. The grey haired man then turned toward his blond counterpart and asked him the fatal question, ''Are you feeling better? Can I do anything-'' The teenager shook his head, smiling sardonically.
-''This sorrow is taking its reign over me and there is nothing you, me, or anyone can do about it.''
The older man watched numbly as his last student disappeared in the horizon.