AN: So, the next chapter...
First, want to thank those who reviewed and I hope to hear what everyone thinks about this chapter as well.
Also I just want to point out I've made them a bit older then in canon. Instead of graduating at 12, they're thirteen. Sasuke doesn't defect until the Rookie 9 are fourteen. I've basically pushed the timeline forward by about a year. More information can always be found on my website linked on my profile.
Things will make more sense as we go on.
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Heritage Arc.
Eternal Spiral.
Chapter 2: Point of no Resistance.
Naruto sighed as her last clone was destroyed by Kakashi.
"Great, now I have to find Sasuke and Sakura," she muttered, realizing her only chance at passing this test was by working with her teammates. If only she'd been blessed with teammates more likely to listen to her.
It had taken her a while, but she understood now. She'd figured it out around the same time her unfortunate clone took a thousand years of death to the ass. Pervert, she thought with a hiss. She'd be sure to pay the scarecrow back for that. Even if it was a clone it wasn't like he'd realized that; she'd noticed the surprise in his eyes when her clone dispersed. She'd been smart and kawarimi'ed with a clone at the last second.
Turning towards the place she saw Kakashi go, Naruto quickly, but stealthily, made her way there. She had a bell to get and a test to pass. She would need help though, she just hoped she could convince Sasuke and (or) Sakura to help her.
Naruto ducked down into the lukewarm water to rinse her long hair, a melancholy look pasted on her face. She'd found a large waterfall in the area where she and Jiraiya stopped for the night. It wasn't the warmest water, but it was a place to wash off. Swimming away from the waterfall, Naruto moved closer to the shore. Her long sunny hair contoured to her body, sticking, and shielding her breast and pelvic region from view.
What was visible while she walked, was a large fist-sized scar on the left side of her chest, dangerously close to where her heart rested. From behind there was an identical scar, as if someone had driven their hand through her. It was the only scar on her body that wasn't faint. It wasn't perfectly round, but almost web or star-like. Anyone would question how she'd survived such an injury.
"Naruto..."
Naruto gasped, her body still bent over but within seconds she had stood up straight. Her towel was clutched in front of her. She recognized that voice! Cold and emotionless, yet underneath she heard every emotion he tried to hide away. Looking around her for the voices owner, her cerulean eyes found a shape, which slowly stepped from the shadows of the moonlit night.
After nearly three months he, for the most part, looked the same. He was taller and his hair was longer. It was as dark as always, and stuck up in the back all the same. He had the same pale complexion, but now it was an almost sickly shade, and his eyes were even more penetrating than she remembered.
She didn't realize she was shaking with his black irises locked on her blue ones until she felt the ripples in the water around her knees. It wasn't from the cold, but neither was it entirely from fear. Truthfully, her emotions were so spiraled together it was hard to pinpoint one from the other.
"Sasuke," she whispered. Her voice nearly breaking while her eyes began to tear up.
Sasuke blinked when he saw the blonde come from behind a tree after Kakashi left, leaving him still stuck underground. The girl chuckled upon seeing him and he glared. He couldn't help but notice the way the sun shinned against her hair and nearly turned areas of it red.
Her hair always did distract me, he thought to himself.
"Dobe," he said, slightly annoyed. "What are you doing?"
She smiled and sank to her knees. She made a few clones to help her and she began to dig him out. This action surprised him, but he refused to show it.
"Getting you out of this mess, bastard," she said. "Once you're out of here though, you owe me one. And I know exactly what you can do."
Sasuke raised a single eyebrow in question.
"Hn, and what exactly is that?" he asked.
Naruto smirked.
"Help me get those bells from Kakashi-sensei and pass this test. I'll explain more once you're out."
Sasuke smirked, and after a moment of consideration he nodded.
Naruto hadn't changed much in the months since he'd seen her at the Valley of The End. She was a little taller, but so was he. Her body had begun to transition from teenager to woman, even if only slightly seeing as she was only fourteen (given a few months they'd both be fifteen), but she'd always been a little more developed than most of the girls their age.
Her hair was longer and some of it was floating on the water that came up to her knees. It formed to her body in such a way that he could only make out some of her curves, and the towel was obscuring the rest of her body from him. Her blue eyes were wide. He tried to fight how much he'd missed the sunny girl.
"Come to kill me, Sasuke?" she asked, her eyes slowly narrowing. She hadn't forgotten, it was hard to when the scar on her chest reminded her every time she saw it. She'd wanted to hate him for leaving so badly, but she could never bring herself to.
Sasuke grimaced inwardly at the reminder. The memory of the last battle between them haunted him still, but he couldn't allow it to distract him. He couldn't allow Naruto to get in his way, no matter how much he cared about her.
"No," he said, walking forward. "I just happened to be in the area."
She raised an eyebrow, and snorted. "This is miles from Sound..."
Sasuke smirked in that holier-than-thou way that always made her want to punch him. "You think I'm kept caged, Naruto?" he asked, shaking his head and walking into the water to be closer to her. "Foolish."
Naruto watched warily, her eyes dilating as he invaded her personal space. It made it worse that she was completely vulnerable and naked under the towel she held to her body.
"What are -" Naruto didn't finish, her eyes widened in shock as his lips met her own.
The shock was both metaphorical and literal – at least, she felt as if a shock of lightning had shot through her. Mentally her mind told her to pull away, but a stronger part didn't want too.
"Why?" she whispered once he pulled away, his forehead resting against hers. Her eyes were watering, and anger coursed through her.
"You're my best friend, the only one I can let my guard down around. Or at least, I could… before," he said so softly she almost didn't hear it.
"How… How could you leave?" she asked harshly, her hand pushing sharply against his chest. "Come back to Konoha, Sasuke. It's not too late for that."
"Konoha..." He looked up at the sky and then back down at her. "No. Konoha only holds me back."
"Why are you here then, just to torment me?" she asked raspingly, a defeated undertone going almost unnoticed. She gasped softly when she felt arms around her waist, pulling her closer, and onyx eyes gazed down into hers.
"For one night... can't we just forget our pasts?" he muttered, all but unsure of what he himself was asking.
While her mind told her to refuse, she'd always had problems refusing her precious people, and Sasuke always held a special place in her heart. Leaning up she placed her lips against his. She was aware of a single tear falling from her eye while she gave no more resistance to her desires.
One night to forget. In her heart she felt a tinge of guilt, Sasuke was technically a traitor to Konoha, but she couldn't resist giving in to the brief happiness these nights would bring her. They wouldn't be often, and she'd always wonder how he always found her, but she never cared to ask. When those nights came they were simply Sasuke and Naru... there was nothing else.
They were both at the point of no resistance.
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Edited: 1/11/18.
