A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone. I had to reset my computer and deal with problems in real life. Damned exams. By the way, thanks to everyone who reviewed. As a little fun fact, I always listen to music while I'm writing. I'd like to devote this chapter to my readers and to the band I listened to exclusively while writing it, Nightwish. For anyone who's familiar with the band, I thought of the first part of the first scene while listening to "The Islander". Sorry, by the way, this is a slightly slower chapter, since it's mainly dealing with the aftereffects of the previous chapter. It has no action, just plot development, and a bit of character development. Well, there's a little violence. The next chapter will contain some action, though it won't be a battle. If my story is still too rushed then I ask for help from anyone who knows how to properly pace it. Please.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would have gotten rid of that damned orange jumpsuit already. Though admittedly, his new cape (check the manga) is pretty damned awesome.
Naruto looked out upon the horizon. The ocean stretched before him, the waves crashing on the beach. He could taste the salt, smell the water, and felt, for perhaps the first time in his life, peaceful. Walking down the beach, he enjoyed the calm, the waves washing away the footprints he left. For hours, maybe days for all he cared, he did nothing but walk and soak in the calm he'd never enjoyed before. He could have stayed this way forever, and felt a stab of pain when he felt himself being watched. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be...
He stared all around, but he couldn't detect whoever was watching him. In fact, the harder he looked, the more his surroundings faded. Desperately wanting to hang on to his peace, false as it may have been, he tried to keep it in his mind, but it continued fading. The last glance he got was of the setting sun, then everything faded to black.
When sight returned to him, he was in a blazing apartment. He walked farther into the building, the flames licking at his legs. Though he wanted to turn back, he couldn't stop himself. Knowing what waited for him in this apartment, his apartment, he shivered. He couldn't see this again. The first time he saw it, he wanted to die. As he kicked open the door to his bedroom, he found it. The body. It was mangled, and blood was everywhere, along with something worse... The last thing he heard before fading away was his own screaming.
Vision came once again to him in flashes. The third hokage comforting him, the old man's arms around him, taking away his pain. The Ichiraku ramen stand, where he found more precious people. Iruka inviting him for some of the said ramen, and then telling Mizuki that Naruto wasn't the demon fox. Then he saw people throwing rocks at him, the truth revealed by Mizuki. The disdain in Sakura's eyes, Sasuke's hand through his shoulder, electrocuting him even as it pierced him...
Naruto woke up screaming. He knew he was an outlaw,and outlaws were supposed to be quiet when they were hiding, but he didn't care. All the effort he had put into protecting this damned village, into making the people respect him. But he had been accused of a crime he didn't commit, and they had tried to execute him for it. Like he could ever have committed an atrocity like that, and done it to that person... Even some of his friends, his precious people, had come after him! After what seemed like a lifetime, he stopped screaming.
"God Damn! Could you try to be a little quieter, asshat? I have a headache." He glared over at her. Damned redhead. Even if she was his lifeline. Tayuya, the ex-sound nin, was the one who went out at night and stole food for the two hiding shinobi. He'd stumbled into the old research lab of Orochimaru, thinking that no one would think of checking there, since the third, dead for some time now, was the only person who knew about it and knew Naruto would have been smart enough to find it. Little did he know a certain foul-mouthed ninja was already hiding there, both from Konoha and her own ex-master.
"Sorry, Red. Just remembering some things." He didn't need to tell her what. The rumor mill had been in full swing after his attempted arrest.
"Yeah, I get ya, but still. Keep your stupid voice at a respectable volume, you little shit. My headache plus your mouth equals my foot up your ass! Quiet, quiet. That's better. Now do you want Breakfast?" Oh, the mood-swings. Damn her. Damn her to hell. But bless her anyway. Since he couldn't walk (I took a semi-common theme in NaruTayu fics, and reversed it. Bite me), the girl had been taking care of all the supply needs for the both of them. Naruto guessed he owed her his life.
"Yeah, thanks, Tayuya-san..." Maybe once he would have called her Tayuya-chan, but after that event, already two weeks ago, he'd changed. Betrayal and paralysis had made him cool down. He was already actually smart, but now that he took time to think, it showed. Since he couldn't train his body right now, he was training his brain. Maybe he'd find a way to restore his legs. Orochimaru had some interesting stuff in here, after all. In the process of trying to develop immortality, there had to have been something that could heal a cripple. He was ripped out of his thoughts by the smell of breakfast.
"Well, it was either cereal, or cereal. Though I suppose I could have gotten cereal. I need to go out again soon... god damned stupid villagers, with their fancy laws against theft!" As the redhead ranted on and on about laws, Naruto munched on his cereal, trying to ignore the taste of stale shinobi puffs. He had to do something. They had to leave Konoha soon, but without the ability to walk, Naruto had a snowflake's chance in hell in the outside world. Putting down his bowl so he could get to work, he smelled it. That smell straight out of hell.
"Tayuya, are you smoking again? Could you stop doing that? It's bad for you, ya know. Cancer and loss of lung capacity and all that." She really had to stop that habit. All he got in return for his concern, though, was a one-fingered salute.
"Hey, you candle sniffing fuck fence, why don't you go climb a wall of dicks? I know a little medical ninjutsu, as I've told you. It's not enough to heal your legs, but it's enough to heal my lungs if it ever becomes a problem. Besides, you should live life as you wish, and ignore what other people tell you you should and shouldn't do. Isn't it my business? I thought that you would've learned that a person's business is their own, and not anyone else's." Well, she had a point there, but still... He waved the smoke out of his face, pretending to cough just to get on her nerves, and used his hands to drag himself over to a desk, where he continued reading a book he'd been studying.
The old lab smelled of dust and disinfectant. It was surprisingly clean, except for the dust that the two had mostly gotten rid of. Books, organs, scrolls, and medical instruments cluttered the walls, on shelves and tables. A bathroom with a shower was in the back, probably built so Orochimaru could clean himself off before returning to the village. The scrolls were full of jutsu, many of them rare or signature moves of the snake sannin, and the books were full of medical knowledge, information on chakra, data on political alliances in the ninja world, and guides to making new jutsu. Naruto was currently reading on a thesis of chakra relative to the operation and maintenance of the human body, by a medical ninja who had apparently trained Tsunade. The book had already taught him how to use chakra to enhance and train his muscle strength. He was currently reading through the section on the effect of chakra on nerve cells. This could be exactly what he was looking for! Unfortunately, he was pulled from his study by a curse.
"Damn chakra-eating piece of crap! Naruto, I need your help. This rasengan thing isn't working out right." Looked like he'd have to wait a bit longer. He dragged himself over to the table next to her, avoiding the bloodstains on the table, and set the foulmouthed redhead to a chakra building exercise. She had good control, but she needed more chakra. This was going to be a long day...
"You summoned me, master?" A shadowy man knelt before the throne of Danzo, the head of the root division of ANBU. He lived to serve his lord, although he supposed he once had a different purpose in life.
"Yes, my newest servant. I want you to become stronger. Your part in our previous operation was invaluable to our cause, but I want you to grow stronger, so that when he inevitably rears his ugly head again, you may terminate the fox yourself. Remember what he did to you..." Yes, he had suffered too much because of that damned demon. The man only wished he could have played a bigger part in the plan than just setting it up to look like the fox had done the crime. If only he could have killed the fox, too...
"As you wish my master." Danzo had Sai waiting outside to take the man on a training trip. He had originally planned to kill the man, but his hatred for the fox could be a useful tool indeed. Besides, no one would expect this man to hate the fox, he'd be a perfect spy in the group of Naruto-sympathizers. This was going well indeed. All the years he'd waited, and in just a short time he could take control of Konoha...
"Well, Tayuya-san, you passed the first test. Hey, don't look so down!" The fact that Naruto had passed the third and final test by this time depressed his redheaded companion. It didn't matter that the fourth hokage had taken months to get to this stage. All that mattered was that she didn't get it as fast as Naruto.
"Shut up, ya midget." Naruto was definitely leaning towards "Damn her" rather than "Bless her" at this moment. It had been three days since Naruto had finished the medical book, and he was closer to his goal, though the book he had read since then had given no new clues. His current book was suggesting that a powerful healing force, one beyond standard medical jutsu, could, if focused completely on the nerve cells, repair them. Perhaps his kyuubi chakra, if he could only direct it, or pull out the healing powers without the damaging effects...
"Look on the bright side, your chakra stores have possibly doubled since the training began. Soon, if not already, you'll be as strong normally as you used to be when using the cursed seal." Judging by the look on her face, Naruto had just hit a sore spot.
"... Could we just drop this now... I don't want to talk about that seal..." Naruto knew something was worrying her, and he knew it involved the seal. That was a gift from Orochimaru, he knew, allowing him to control the person who had it. Wait, if it could be used to put them in pain or send them messages, then... No...
"Tayuya, is Orochimaru sending you messages? Can he track you down with that seal?" Naruto knew how the snake rewarded failure.
"... Yeah. I've been getting pain. At first it started out as a twitch, but then it started getting worse. I think it's been affecting my chakra flow. And yes, by the way, Orochimaru can use it to track people..." Oh, shit. They had to do something about that before the sannin hunted her down. Straining as he now had to do to move himself, he placed himself in a chair and began searching for books on seals, and how to remove or modify them. He knew that the creator of the cursed seal would have left some information on it, since he had apparently created it here.
Tayuya stared at the boy, who could barely move, dropping his attempts to heal himself and looking for a way to help her. Though they'd been hiding together for nearly two and a half weeks, they didn't talk about their personal histories, partly because both had pasts that they didn't want to think of, and partly because Tayuya didn't trust people. In fact, she'd only taken in Naruto, at first, to use his knowledge of Konoha and his rare ninja techniques, and only then because he was no threat to her as a cripple. But here he was, ignoring himself, trying to help her! Naruto didn't see it, but she began to tear up.
"You fucking moron!" Grabbing the boy's shoulders, she threw him to the floor. The blonde's face registered physical pain and emotional hurt when he looked up at her, which only made her angrier. No one trusted her, she didn't trust anyone, and no one, no one, was nice to her. Throwing books, scrolls, and chairs aside, she started hitting him with a hammer used for torture by her ex-master.
"Why do you have to be fucking nice to me! I've been using you, dammit! You aren't supposed to trust me, or be nice to me, you're supposed to just try to use me too! I hate you, you little shit! You were raised with people to trust, probably a nice family! You had a nice life! I've had shit! All life is is people using each other, betraying each other, and despising each other!" The blond cringed as she repeatedly hit him in the legs. The fact that he wasn't trying to protect himself only made her angrier.
"Why are you nice to me?! Why are you concerned over someone you don't even fucking know! I'm your enemy, you piece of shit! People don't care for their enemies! Get it?! You don't care for me, you aren't nice to me! That's the way it's going to be, you stupid bastard!" At this point she didn't expect Naruto to throw himself forward. Using chakra to blast himself off the floor, he flew onto her, pinning her on a table and gripping the top of her shirt. Looking up at his face, she saw fangs, thicker whisker marks, and red, slitted eyes. Naruto couldn't stand it anymore.
"Are you done yet, idiot?! That's not the way it's going to be! I will be nice to you whether you like it or not. I'll trust you, even though you're using me, because you saved me. You think I couldn't tell?! Listen, Tayuya, the reason I trust you, the reason I try to help you, and the reason I can read you better than you think, is that, for the first time, I know someone with a past as shitty as mine!" Her eyes widened. A past as bad as hers? This usually cheerful boy? That had to be bullshit. She tried to move, but he pushed her back down.
"No, now you listen to me! You think I'm really that stupid, hyperactive boy I pretend to be?! That was a mask I learned to put up years ago! Because of it, the villagers got tired of beating me. They got tired of torturing me, stabbing me, using cheap alcohol to set me on fire. They got tired of using me as their twisted little sex toy! Don't accuse me of having a comfortable life, because that's impossible when you're the container of the kyuubi!" Tayuya was floored. This boy, the container of the kyuubi? The demon fox that nearly destroyed Konoha twelve years ago? And what he said, he really hadn't had a good life. And he wanted to help her, he trusted her, because he was similar to her? She felt numb inside. Even though he wasn't applying much pressure, she still couldn't get up because of the trembling in her limbs, both because of the red chakra that was pouring off of the boy, and because of his revelation.
"Naruto, I..." she didn't get any further because, as suddenly as it had appeared, the kyuubi-chakra faded. Naruto coughed up a red liquid that could only have been blood, and fell to the floor. Forgetting her shock, the kunoichi dropped down next to him and started using her limited medical knowledge to heal him.
"Please Naruto. Naruto! I'm... I'm sorry." The unconscious ninja below her didn't respond, and she detected that he had ruptured an old wound in his lung. Damn, she didn't think she could heal this... Throwing caution to the wind, she began pumping all the healing chakra she could into him. It started to close, but she couldn't keep it up much longer. Grabbing a soldier pill out of the boy's pocket and popping it into her mouth, she felt confident. The wound was closing up, she was saving Naruto. No, maybe Naruto was the one who saved her...
Suddenly, the wound re-opened itself. Purple chakra began to fight the green healing chakra. Not caring that blood was spurting out of the blond's mouth onto her clothing, she pumped more and more chakra into his wound. She couldn't keep this up, but she had to. Feeling her chakra reserves begin to run dry, she still pushed. She began pushing, somehow, more chakra than she thought she had into him. With a cry and a last shove of chakra, the wound closed back up. It did not re-open. Exhausted, but happy, Tayuya collapsed on top of the blond.
"Naruto, thank you..." The redhead smiled momentarily, before passing out...
A/N: Sorry. I originally intended this chapter to be much longer, but since I lost the original draft, and have been pretty busy recently, I cut a bit out of this chapter, and am putting it in the next. Ah well, it's still about three times the length of the first one, though it's still shorter than I wanted it. The next chapter shouldn't take so long to finish, since I have a properly working computer and no exams. I apologize for the delay, thank the readers, and ask for reviews. If you don't review, I'll send Kabuto and his pervy obsessiveness after you.
Next Chapter: With a newfound friendship, Naruto and Tayuya start working together on their research, and Danzo carries out another step of his plot.
