Disclaimer: Neither I nor my co author own Naruto. There's nothing more to say than that. This story is a collaboration effort between me and Drakuzz. For those of you that have read our first collaboration Twin Troubles, we hope you'll come enjoy this tale. For those of you that haven't, we also hope you enjoy this as well.
Diverging Paths
By David Knight and Drakuzz
Chapter Two: The First Night
Sasuke was never so glad for survival training, if only for the fact he knew what he could and couldn't eat. A hand full of edible berries was better than nothing. Rest unfortunately was something he didn't have the luxury of taking as he hid in the trees and waited for Sound ninja patrols to leave. Only then did he continue to move forward.
I'm going to need to figure out how to even get rest. I don't think I can make it all the way out of this country without sleep. He had been without sleep for two days and it didn't look like he'd be getting any anytime soon, but ninja were still only human.
And when you are tired, you make mistakes, Sasuke knew from experience.
He was a highly-skilled ninja, however, and so it wouldn't be easy for him to be spotted even if they were actively looking for him here. The number of patrols spoke otherwise for it was obvious they didn't think he was here. It worked to his advantage.
He'd run across some normal people as well, yet ignored most of them as they were travelers. The need to eat something warm and rest would force him to approach one such group, though.
It was becoming dark and he realized now would be his best time for any rest. Orochimaru will wait until dawn to send his forces out looking for me at the earliest. Now's as good a time as any. He just hoped his need for rest and food wouldn't be his undoing.
As he jumped through the trees he saw the familiar light in the distance that belonged to a fire. An obvious campsite.
He scouted the area, making sure not to see anyone with any Sound markings. After finding none, he leapt down from the trees but not right into the camp. Rather he'd walk out of the forest and then make his way there.
The fire turned out to be rather small, and the aroma of cooked rabbit assaulted his nostrils, making his stomach protest the lack of nourishment.
He kept on his guard as he approached the campsite.
As he approached he could see the sole occupant of the camp was a girl around his age, who didn't give any outward signs of knowing he was there as she cooked the rabbit. The angle didn't allow him to see much of the girl yet.
"Excuse me."
The girl stiffened visibly and she turned over her shoulder nervously, ineffectually trying to appear calm. "W-who is it?"
Sasuke stifled a chuckle. She seems timid, but looks can be deceiving. "Don't worry. I don't bite. Mind if I sit down?"
When she saw the newcomer was a boy instead of one of the Sound nin that patrolled these forests she relaxed slightly. While he could still be dangerous he wasn't a direct danger like those would be. "... Yeah..."
Sasuke took a seat down by the fire and looked at the rabbit. "I don't suppose you have more than just that?"
The girl, who Sasuke could now see had long black hair and eyes, shook her head meekly. "It's all I could find. Sorry."
"Damn." Sasuke groaned, his stomach ended up protesting loudly. ... Unbelievable.
The girl lowered her head miserably. She hadn't had a decent meal for days, yet she couldn't deny this stranger to share the food. It looked as if he wasn't any better off than she was.
"I don't want to take it like this," Sasuke said to her. He didn't want pity. Not after what he did.
"You need it," she replied, still not looking directly at him. "Tomorrow we can search for something more, but you need to eat something."
Sasuke looked at her for a bit before giving his answer. "We split it. I'll help you find something at dawn to repay you, but after that I need to leave."
She finally looked up from the fire and stared at him. "You're a missing nin, aren't you?"
Sasuke blinked but then looked down. "Yes."
The girl nodded in understanding, still nervous but at least now with the knowledge this guy probably wouldn't bother with her. Or at least she hoped he didn't.
The meat was taken and split and both of them ate their half. Sasuke however didn't want to know this girl's name. He didn't want to get to know her. He didn't deserve to. Didn't need to.
The girl herself didn't ask for his name. If she was found by a group looking for this ninja she wouldn't be lying if she didn't know his name. Bad enough it was that she knew what he looked like.
----
Naruto sat on his bed thinking things over. The Kyuubi, the fight with Sasuke... Sakura... he sighed. He hadn't even seen the pink haired Genin yet. He wasn't sure he wanted to. Not after what happened now. He failed in his promise. For now anyway. I'll get Sasuke-bastard back... Somehow.
Incredibly enough they hadn't run into any of Naruto's friends on their way to his apartment, which somehow suited him just fine for the moment. He had to come up with an excuse for the new companion he had, who seemed reluctant to leave him alone.
"I can't believe you actually live in this dump, brat," the Kyuubi complained as she walked in from the bathroom, clad in one of his black t-shirts and a pair of shorts.
"Its the only place I could get," Naruto said simply. "Consider how just about every adult in this village either hates me or wants to kill me."
"I wonder why..." The Kyuubi asked with a knowing smirk as she approached and sat next to Naruto.
"Yeah well I don't have a problem living here, so if you are going to stay with me, deal with it," Naruto returned, not looking at her. "Unless of course you got ideas that don't involve killing someone to get a new house."
The woman snorted and laid back, her legs dangling to touch the floor. "Is this what you do with your pathetic life? Play at being a ninja in a village that you're hated?"
"I always wondered why they hated me, and when I found out I had you I thought I knew why. 'Cept it's not that. People just don't hate demons. They hate anything they see as different from them. It sucks that there are a lot of stupid people in the world, but there's also some good, decent people." Naruto said before getting up and looking Kyuubi in the eyes fiercely. "And I don't play. I am a ninja."
She rolled her eyes and sat up once more, pointing at his face with her finger. "I've got news for you, brat. You're just a kid and you only play at being ninja. That idiot that sealed me inside of you was a ninja. Those two decrepit humans today are ninjas. The one-eyed one is a ninja. The rest are all weaklings." She smirked nastily. "And so are you, until you stop being a kid."
"And what makes someone a ninja to you, fox?" Naruto asked.
The Kyuubi opened her mouth to answer... But closed it as a thoughtful look crossed her features. After a moment of silence she smirked, settling for an answer that would piss him off. "I'll tell you when you're older and can understand, brat."
Naruto let out a groan as he fell back to his bed. Laying back something came to his mind, "Do demons know love?"
The woman raised an eyebrow and turned to regard the blond kid. "You humans really are full of yourselves. Do you really think you're the only ones capable of positive emotions?"
"Hey all I know about demons is what stupid humans say about them," Naruto defended himself. "... That and the fact that Gaara's has nearly driven him insane, unable to sleep, and when ever it does come out, all it wants to do is kill. So forgive me for being misinformed."
"Gaara's?" Kyuubi asked curiously.
"Sand-nin that nearly killed Sakura, Sasuke, Lee and me at different occasions. I used your power to beat him and Shukakku."
The woman's eyes widened in surprise. "Shukakku is also trapped inside a human?" She burst out laughing at that. "I told that idiot he should grow up and stop playing around with humans."
Naruto blinked, never thinking he'd ever see the demon laugh... Well in a way that wasn't evil. It was very weird. "... You know it?"
"Of course I know it," the Kyuubi said as she continued to chuckle. "Hard not to when a couple of centuries ago he tried to claim me as his mate." She waved it off and turned to Naruto again. "So you say he's trapped inside a human from the country of Sand?"
"Yeah. Gaara's actually here in the village since we saw his sister back in the hospital." Naruto said.
The woman nodded thoughtfully. She turned to regard Naruto carefully, eyeing him critically with the unnerving gaze only her slitted red eyes were capable of.
"Um... What are you thinking of doing... Kyuubi?" Naruto said, using her proper name as not wanting to say something that going cause something bad.
"I taking a good look at the one that held me prisoner for so long," she answered evenly, clearly unimpressed. "You're short. And you don't seem all that strong."
Naruto frowned. "Yeah well didn't have much choice you know. Neither did Gaara. He's had it worse in some ways, his own father stuffing the squirrel in him and he tried to kill him on several occasions."
"Idiotic humans," Kyuubi muttered under her breath and shook her head. She continued to look at Naruto, noticing all the changes her presence inside of him brought. He was short, but that was mostly due to him not having his growth spurt yet. The way chakra circulated in his body seemed normal for a human at first glance, yet she could tell his inner coils were far from normal.
Naruto was going to ask again what she was doing when he heard a knock at his door. "Wonder who that is," he mused as he got off his bed and went to the door. He didn't see anyone but turned his head to the side and found someone. A smile came on his face. "Hinata."
"N-Naruto-kun," the shy Hyugga fidgeted as she looked at the blonde. "You are okay?"
"Yeah well I am still alive," He laughed, though maybe he shouldn't have considering he did die. I got REALLY lucky.
The Kyuubi rolled her eyes and felt like ignoring Naruto's stuttering girlfriend, but she was curious as to who it could be. It didn't help her plans to have people be nice to the brat. She stood up from the bed and walked behind blond kid to take a look. When she saw the white pupils she saw red...
The killer intent she generated put to shame the one released in front of the Hokage that afternoon, all directed at Hinata over Naruto's head.
Hinata fell back in a terror while Naruto felt it. "K-Kaguya!" He stared at her, focusing that killer intent at Hinata who was on the ground, her heart racing and feeling faint. He turned to the Kyuubi. "Kaguya stop it! You're hurting her!"
The Kyuubi showed no sign of stopping, even when Naruto was in her face.
Deep in his heart, Naruto felt anger and rage like never before. The fox was hurting the first person his own age that showed him kindness. She was trying to scare into death perhaps the kindest person in all of Konoha... And for what?
He had enough. Consequences be damned.
"I SAID STOP!" Naruto roared as hit the Kyuubi right in the face with everything he had.
The poor Hyuga girl felt as if the pressure of the ocean was lifted from her, the killer intent no longer threatening to squeeze the life out of her.
The Kyuubi didn't even take a step back, in fact she hardly seemed to feel the blow as it only managed to move her head slightly to the side. Said punch did, however, snap her out of her rage enough to regain her bearings. She turned her red eyes to stare directly into Naruto's blue orbs over his fist.
"What the hell is your problem?" Naruto said in a tone the Kyuubi didn't think he had. "Hinata is the kindest, gentlest person in the entire village. And yet you unleash a damn killing intent on her that should probably be only reserved for the Snake bastard! What the hell did she ever do to you to deserve that!"
When the demon answered it was a in a voice so guttural and full of malice that Naruto had no trouble remembering the Kyuubi was indeed a demon. "She was born."
Naruto almost took a step back, but then remembered exactly what he was doing and held his ground. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean, fox?"
The woman smirked nastily as she forcibly removed Naruto's fist from her face, which didn't show any sign of being hit. "Do you really want me to answer with your girlfriend sitting there, brat?"
Naruto turned around and saw Hinata who was now staring at Kyuubi with wide eyes. "Hinata! Are you alright?" He asked her as he came to her, though knowing that was a really stupid question.
"What... Is she?" Hinata gasped, feeling more afraid than ever in her short life.
"A very scary woman," Naruto sighed.
"Naruto-kun, she isn't a woman… She's chakra!" Hinata said to him.
Naruto blinked then looked at her and saw that Hinata had activated her Byakugan. "... Oh crap..."
The Kyuubi continued to smirk as she stood there over the two kids, reveling in the sense of fear emanating from the Hyuga. She was still angered nearly beyond reason, but her promise to Naruto stopped her from harming Hinata for now. For now, she reminded herself. "You could say I'm kind of the brat's... Guardian..."
"Yeah, my dear beloved aunt," Naruto said with sarcasm though an idea sparked to his mind. Oh wow! That's perfect! He hid his smile though as there was still this crisis to take care of.
The demon rolled her eyes at that. Only a kid could come up with something that inane. Though in fact it was so simple it could actually work.
"But... Naruto-kun..." Hinata blinked. "Aren't you an orphan?"
"Well… Yeah. But you see, Aunty Kaguya made a mistake in a jutsu before I was born and she was in a coma for over a decade. She kinda just woke up. And the looking like chakra, its cause of her jutsu. Tsunade-baba is helping her out. But she's a bit irritable. We were having a fight and I'm sorry you got involved."
Hinata took all of this in, though some parts still felt off, she decided to accept it, for not at least. Naruto-kun was telling her everything was okay.
The Kyuubi stared at Naruto for a moment. How could he come up with such an idiotic story? And how the hell did the stupid girl buy it? "... Who are you calling irritable, brat?" She demanded.
"But you are irritable, Aunty Kaguya," Naruto smirked.
The woman's eyebrow twitched. "You are seriously trying your luck, brat."
"I... Think I better be going home," Hinata said getting up. "You and your Aunt seem to still have... Issues."
"Yeah, better get going but I'm glad you came, Hinata," Naruto said with a smile, getting the Hyuuga heir to blush.
"T-take care of yourself, Naruto-kun," she said as she turned and bowed to Kyuubi. "Good night, Uzumaki-san." Then left the two of them alone outside, very nearly running down the hall and out of sight.
The demon snorted at being called that and turned to glare at Naruto. "Aunty Kaguya?"
"Well sooner or later people are going to notice I got an older woman living in my apartment," Naruto returned. "People thinking you're my aunt makes sense. At least more sense than any other ideas I had to explain why an older woman would be living with a twelve year old."
"And didn't it occur to you that people will know who I am? That girl saw my true nature. Others of her clan will too, and they will know," the woman said as she walked back into the apartment.
Naruto walked back into the apartment and closed the door. "'You sure you want me to tell you with your girlfriend present'. Your words, remember? I didn't want Hinata around to hear it. So how about you tell me now."
The woman turned around to regard the kid. "Let's just say I have my reasons for hating that clan. In fact I attacked this stupid village because of them."
Naruto blinked repeatedly several times before he finally said something. "... Damn..."
The demon pursed her lips for a moment and shrugged, trying to dismiss it for now. "What do you have to eat here?"
"Instant ramen," Naruto said simply.
"... I'm talking about real food, brat," the Kyuubi said seriously.
"Ramen is the best food you'll ever eat! Besides, that's all I have," Naruto said to her seriously. "I don't have much cash, and every place I went for food people tried charging me more than anyone else. Only thing that I got to eat at a low price was Ichraiku's Ramen and so I stuck with it. Better than starving."
The woman's animalistic eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you've done nothing against them? You've taken it all like a wimp?"
"Five year old child asking old woman to lower her price and then she has four large men beat the hell out of me until shinobi come and they disperse. And then they do jack while I have to pick myself up to go home with nothing. What the hell do you think I could do back then, fox?" Naruto questioned.
"And what about now?" The Kyuubi asked with a sneer.
Naruto stopped from saying anything. Sure, he could do something now, but using force wasn't in him. "Now if I do it, they'll just have their excuse about me being a monster."
"That's just the thing, brat," the Kyuubi said with a nasty smirk as she leaned down to stare him in the eye. "You aren't a monster. What you are, is an idiot for letting them treat you they way they do."
"And how do you suggest I take care of them in a way that doesn't cause me grief from an angry mob?" Naruto questioned the demon.
"I'd say kill them all," the Kyuubi said with an indifferent shrug of her shoulders. "But I guess a weakling like you wouldn't like that."
Naruto groaned as he sat back on his bed. "If you want food Aunty, why don't you take my money, go to the store and buy it yourself?"
The demon turned to regard Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"Seriously," Naruto said throwing his pouch with money inside to her. Though I am not letting her have all my money. "With the way you act, even if you aren't going to kill them, they don't know that." A small smirk came on his face. "Sides, who would be stupid enough to try to stiff you?"
The woman caught the pouch and rolled her eyes. "I'll be back later." And in so saying she left, clad in the same t-shirt and shorts that belonged to Naruto, which on her where a little too small. Being a demon she had no sense of human modesty.
Naruto let out a smirk, not having any pity really for those shopkeepers considering the fact that Kyuubi wouldn't kill them.
Then he thought about what the fox said to him about the Hyuugas. Tell Baa-chan in the morning.
----
Dinner wasn't very succulent; the rabbit didn't have a lot of meat ad it had to be split in half. But for two hungry teenagers it was heaven.
The evening was cold and humid, and it didn't seem like the girl was prepared for the weather.
Sasuke didn't pay the elements much mind at the moment. He got up and looked at the girl. "I'll be back in a little while. Just going to make a round."
The girl didn't say a thing as Sasuke jumped into the trees and started scouting around, though he was also placing traps at some points, just so that when he slept, he would at least have warning if someone got too close.
So this is how it will be. Life as a missing nin. Sasuke thought as he set another trap up, attaching it to a tree branch. Never able to truly rest, always on the move. I will never have the time to become stronger this way. I need to find a place where I can be safe. The only option he had was heading to the hidden village of Cloud and hoping for the best. Hoping for the best isn't practical, though.
He froze when he heard familiar sounds. Feet hitting branches. He turned and kept his position secret but soon figured out where they were heading.
The campsite.
Just as the girl, who still remained nameless to the missing nin from the Leaf, didn't notice his arrival hours ago she didn't notice the arrivals of several more ninja as they hid in the bushes. She cleaned her greasy hands on a dirty cloth and did her best to prepare for the night. It seemed like it would be even colder than the previous evening. With a shudder as the wind picked up she laid down close to the fire, doing her best to curl into a tight ball and keep as warm as possible.
Suddenly a hand clamped around her mouth and then felt a blade at her neck. "Well, well, well. What we got here? Some little girl trespassing on our lands." The one holding her sounded lustful. "And so young, too."
Her eyes snapped open in frightened shock, yet she made no sudden moves as she felt the cold steel touch her sensitive skin. She hadn't even closed her eyes for a couple of seconds and the ninja she was with had left minutes ago. How was this possible?
One of the ninja observed the sight and saw two piles. "You shared a meal with someone. Who was it?" The girl couldn't say anything, mainly because her mouth was being covered. "Jiro, take your hand off the girl."
"But I want to have her. She's on our land, she should pay a toll," the ninja holding the girl hostage said.
"Let go now. Of her mouth, that is," the ninja said and finally saw it happen. He looked at the girl. "So tell me, who was here with you?"
"It was a man. He was just passing by," the girl answered in a shaky voice.
It was the truth. Sasuke was indeed a man, even if he was very young.
"Tell us what he looks like."
"Dark hair. Short. He seemed like a traveler," the girl replied, starting to squirm uncomfortably but stopping as the knife at her throat was held a little tighter against it.
"She isn't lying," the ninja concluded after some thought.
"So can I have her?" The one holding the knife to her throat asked.
A snicker was heard through the group. "Feel free."
The girl felt herself forced down to the ground on her back, the knife still at her throat while her assailant had his free hand going to places that it shouldn't.
"No!" She cried desperately, wanting to fight them off but frozen by fear at her own powerlessness and the knife at her throat. She should've listened to her mother. She should've...
And then suddenly blood splattered over her. Looking up, she saw the one who had had a knife to her throat had now had a kunai in his head. He fell lifelessly to the ground, on top of her.
"AHHHHH!" She cried in horror. She'd seen dead bodies before, but had never seen somebody actually get killed like that.
"What the...?" One of the other ninja cried as he turned all around, looking for the one that threw that kunai with narrowed eyes.
Shuriken flew in from one side causing the ninja to fall backwards to avoid the throwing stars, only to feel something placed on his head from the shadows. "What is..."
The sound of an explosion as well as a head blowing up filled the area. Brain, blood and skull splattered everywhere.
"There you are!" One of the Sound nin cried and did a series of seals. Suddenly the branch Sasuke was standing on sprouted vines.
Sasuke saw it. Thanks for the technique. He then went about doing a series of seals after using his kunai to cut through the vines that came at him. He used the same move that was used on him to wrap around that Sound nin. Then he went about using another set of seals, building up his chakra and letting loose fire from his mouth, engulfing the Sound nin.
The girl, who had moved away in fright from the vicious fight, was picked up by the back of her shirt and cried out in alarm when she felt a kunai cut lightly against her throat. "You there! Don't you dare move or she dies!"
"After seeing how you handled that girl, I can't believe I wanted to side with Sound. I truly would become less than Itachi." Sasuke's voice said, coming ever closer from the shadows.
The Sound nin smirked as he recognized the boy. "So... You are the Uchiha... Orochimaru-sama has been looking everywhere for you."
"Too bad I don't have any intention of joining him," Sasuke said coming out of the shadows. "I'll give you a chance. Let the girl go or you die."
"I think not," the ninja answered and tightened his hold on the girl, making her whimper. "Don't move or she dies."
"I gave you a chance," Sasuke said, though now there was a smirk on his face. "Tell me, do you know why Orochimaru wants me so badly?"
"For your bloodline limit."
"Right... But also in hopes to gain this," Sasuke said as he shifted his eyes to something he had not used before but felt he needed to practice.
And he knew just what to use.
In the span of a second the girl had gone from having a kunai to her throat to her assailant dropping dead, his eyes wide with fright and shock, his heart having stopped.
And looking forward she saw Sasuke fall to his knees, breathing heavily. "... Kami-sama...I didn't think... It'd drain that much chakra..."
The girl looked from the drained boy to the corpses of the Sound nin that surrounded them, all killed in various grotesque ways, and back at Sasuke. She couldn't believe the same boy that shared that rabbit with her and had just saved her life had done so in such... In such a manner... Was capable of such cruelty. "... Who are you?" She asked in disbelief.
Sasuke looked up at her, seeing her face and for a moment felt like he was seeing Sakura. It passed and then he gave his answer. "I am a ninja."
She hesitated for a moment, afraid to get closer to the boy, before walking next to him to support part of his weight. He did save her life from those Sound nin. "I... Thank you..."
"Turn away for a moment," Sasuke said to her but she didn't understand. "Turn away. I have to do something now and you don't need to see it."
"... Yes..." She agreed reluctantly and turned her gaze away, yet she still supported his body.
Sasuke pulled out his kunai and looked at the bodies that still had heads. He stabbed the corpses right into the eyes, ruining them beyond recollection. He then moved away with the girl a distance and looked at the body of the one that he had killed with his advanced Sharingan. Gathering only a little amount of chakra he blew and made a small fire, one that took hold on the last corpse and would burn him to ashes.
"We need to leave, now. It's not safe here," Sasuke said to her.
"But you are weakened... And it's still so dark..." She protested.
"Orochimaru will be sending every last nin he has to find me come dawn," Sasuke said to her as he kept his normal Sharingan on. "My eyes will be able to see movement even in the dark. We need to find another place to be now."
At the mention of that name the girl's face lost all of its color. "Orochimaru!"
"Now you understand why we have to leave," Sasuke said to her seriously.
She nodded shakily. "Just... Let me pick my bag, please." In so saying she rushed to the middle of the camp and picked up a small bag, which she slung over her shoulder before turning to him as if her life depended on him. It did.
"Do you have any place we can go?" Sasuke asked her, disliking that his hopes for survival were now hinged upon this innocent girl.
"My village is a week's walk from here," she answered.
Sasuke let his head drop for a moment before looking back to her. "Is it still within Sound territory or outside?"
"Two days beyond the border," she answered and looked around nervously, as if expecting the legendary Orochimaru himself to drop from the shadows of the trees that very moment.
"Good. At least I can be out of Sound." Sasuke said before looking down. "... I'm sorry to have dragged you into my problems. I wasn't expecting this to happen."
"You saved my life," the girl said truthfully. "I'm sorry they found you because of me."
Sasuke couldn't say anything to that. Instead he gave her something she deserved to know now. His name. "Uchiha Sasuke."
"Tokoro Asuka," she replied.
Sasuke nodded and using his Sharingan was able to tell between trees and movement. With that info, they took the only path they could.
North.
---
The door to Naruto's apartment opened and the Kyuubi walked in, carrying a paper bag in her arms. She closed the door behind herself and walked over to the table to place it down, all the time a satisfied smirk on her face.
"Should I even ask?" Naruto asked from his bed, not even trying to get up?
"An idiot tried to charge me more than the others when I said this was for you and me," the demon explained, still that satisfied smirk on her features as she took out the food. Food that Naruto recognized as meat and vegetables. Meat was expensive.
Naruto blinked when he saw that. He hardly ever tasted meat. "Unbelievable..." The former demon container said in shock.
The woman snorted. "You idiotic brat. If you stood up for yourself you'd eat like this everyday."
Naruto groaned, thinking the demon was totally missing the point the part of the logic that involved him. "So, any left-over cash?"
"A little," the demon answered and threw the pouch back at him.
Naruto was actually surprised, though when he saw how little, he realized he was right not to give the Kyuubi all of his money.
The demon looked at Naruto and narrowed her eyes. "What are you looking so relieved for?"
"Nothing," Naruto said as if it was nothing. Naruto could see the demon didn't look very intimidating as a human size-wise. She wasn't very tall, in fact she was only a head taller than he was, and he was very short even for his age. She didn't have the muscles of a fighter. The long nails and slitted pupils did give her an animalistic look, yet that was only if you looked closely. But she could be scary because of her demeanor.
He heard a knock at the door and blinked. "Two people at my door in the same day that aren't shouting curses at me... Has to be a record."
Kyuubi blinked at that and shrugged. Humans...
Naruto went to the door and opened it... And froze entirely. In fact he almost shut the door in the person's face, in hopes that she wouldn't have seen him... But then again if he did that, he'd not only be a true coward, he'd invoke a wrath that could be as deadly as the fox demon's.
"Hello... Naruto..." A pink-haired girl said with a small smile. A pink-haired girl that just so happened to be his teammate, Haruno Sakura.
"S-Sakura-chan..." Naruto said as if he was a man soon to be expecting a death sentence. Here was the one person he had been trying to avoid since he got back.
Sakura noticed the nervousness, which she had been expecting in fact, and her smile widened. She'd heard what happened in the mission from the others. She also knew from the others, and overheard from Tsunade, just how hard Naruto tried to bring Sasuke back to her. "I heard about the mission."
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry I couldn't bring him back," Naruto sighed. "But, I'll get him back. I'll bring Sasuke back next time. I promised you I'd bring him back to the village and I'm going to keep that promise!"
Sakura's smile almost cracked at the vehemence in Naruto's promise. At the belief in his voice that he would indeed bring Sasuke back. "Naruto... I..." She nodded. "I trust you. But when the time comes, you won't be alone at it. I'll pull my own weight now, too," she said with the same determination.
Naruto was left speechless. "Sakura-chan..."
Sakura was about to say more, to explain what she meant, when she saw the Kyuubi lazily drape an arm around Naruto's shoulders and stare at her over his shoulder. "And who is this girl, brat?" The Haruno girl shuddered slightly, not really knowing why, as she was stared at by the woman.
"That's Sakura, my teammate and friend, Aunty Kaguya," Naruto said with a smile.
"Aunty?" Sakura asked with wide eyes. She didn't know Naruto had any living relatives.
"Yeah. Who knew?" Naruto shrugged. "Turns up on my doorstep literally. She can be so irritable that she has to be family."
The demon's eyes narrowed at that and she bopped the blond on the head with her fist. Not hard enough to knock him out, but enough for it to bruise. Sakura winced in sympathy at that and took a step away from the now arguing relatives.
"Ouch! Have heart, will you Aunty?" Naruto whined.
"Stop your whining! I didn't hit you that hard!" Kyuubi growled out.
Naruto groaned as he looked back to Sakura. "Sorry about that. We tend to argue a bit." He had a smile on his face. "Don't worry. I'll get him back, Sakura-chan. Leave it to me."
"And as I said, when you do you won't be alone, Naruto," Sakura said and smiled. "I'll train and become strong too. We'll get him back."
"Yeah. We'll get him back," Naruto said, though in the back of his mind, wondered how Sakura was going to train hard enough be of a real help. He liked her, A LOT, but he wasn't about to put her in harms way or in a position that he was going to need to protect her when he needed to fight. "So... What are you going to do for training?" He was curious after all.
"That I'll take care of myself. Don't worry. Next time I'll pull my own weight," the pink-haired ninja said with a smile, hiding her sadness at the fact Sasuke was lost to them for now.
By the side, Kyuubi snorted. "Weaklings."
Sakura's eyes widened slightly and she turned to regard Naruto's aunt with a look of surprise. She didn't expect someone from his family to treat him and her with that disdain.
"Don't mind her. So far the only ones she considers real ninjas are ero-sannin, baa-chan and Kakashi-sensei."
Kyuubi stared incredulously at the dismissive way Naruto spoke to Sakura about her. "You have a lot of nerve, brat." It was the very same reason why she liked him the first time they met, when he demanded she lend him her chakra. And it seemed even now, when she could rip his head off, not that she could because of her promises, he still had the same guts around her.
"That's what people have been telling me for years," Naruto replied, feeling someone used to this already... And that was a little scary.
Sakura rolled her eyes at the display and decided to take her leave. She had to request Tsunade to take her in as her apprentice, after all. "Well, I should get going now. It's nice to see you weren't badly hurt, Naruto."
"Thanks, Sakura-chan. See ya later."
Sakura bowed to Kyuubi. "It was nice meeting you," she said politely, to which the demon snorted. She then waved to Naruto and left, confidence in her stride as she headed for the Hokage tower
Naruto smiled before turning back to the Kyuubi. "So… Ummm, assuming you are cooking then?"
The demon gave her former vessel a blank stare.
----
Kabuto never thought he'd dread having to come into his master's chambers. Oh sure, he had been a bit nervous at times, after all who would not be.
But this was news he knew Orochimaru-sama would not be pleased with.
After all, even if he'd moved into a new vessel the wanted one had escaped.
He went to the door and waited until he saw the eyes look at him. His master was still heavily bandaged, as he had only just moved into his new vessel.
"What news do you bring me, Kabuto?" The bandaged man asked, already knowing in advance that it wasn't good.
"Orochimaru-sama, I had thought to bring you good news when I first received reports that Uchiha Sasuke had been spotted in our territory. Though we lost him, we hoped he would still be on his way," Kabuto began. "However... This morning I was informed one of our four man squads was utterly decimated."
Orochimaru rubbed his chin with a hand. "So Sasuke has found it in himself to try and escape us, has he?"
"But it does not make any sense," Kabuto said as it was a confusing situation. "If he had truly decided not to join you why even enter our territory? Also, all of the bodies had their eyes sliced through... Those that had heads at least."
"Is that so?" Orochimaru asked in interest. "As to why cross our territory. He might want to avoid us, but after defecting from the Leaf he can't go back. Not after betraying them like that."
"True, but where can he go?" Kabuto asked in earnest. "Past our territory is a long stretch of land before getting close to Hidden Cloud and he would need a boat to reach Hidden Mist. All of the other Hidden Villages are in the opposite direction."
"Perhaps he isn't going to a hidden village," Orochimaru suggested and his eyes wrinkled in amusement. He had three years before he could actually take Sasuke's body. Chasing after the boy for that period of time would prove entertaining.
"Perhaps. What do you want to do, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked, ready to follow out his orders.
"Send my nin after him, but if he manages to escape our territory have hunter nin follow him from a distance and keep track of his movements," Orochimaru commanded. "Let us see how resourceful Uchiha Sasuke really is."
Kabuto bowed. "As you command, Orochimaru-sama."
To Be Continued...
