A re-write. Not update.

Disclaimers apply, though.


Be My Friend ?


CHAP TWO

Naruto hadn't expected to appear there or anywhere outside right then. After all, hadn't he been in his house with a party specially thrown for him? Hadn't he just been surrounded by his closest people with Sasuke on his lap? Wait…that's right; Sasuke was having a nightmare. He had touched his friend's brow and then—

He started as a loud cry reached his ears. Spinning around, his sharp ANBU senses kicking in and giving him keener, adrenaline senses, he crouched low for an oncoming attack. Needless to say, he was quite shocked when he saw himself on the ground, bleeding from his forehead. He recognized the trainee squad leader band on his arm and gasped at the familiarity of the whole thing. He was back to the time when that incident happened! When– When—

"What the hells' going on?!" came Kiba's bewildered voice. Naruto started again at the coherent words that Kiba was yelling. It had been too long since the brunette had done any such thing, anyway, and it gave Naruto a deep pang of sadness to think about it. He felt it even more so as a few yips, barks and growls indicated that Kiba's large dog Akamaru was there as well.

"Naruto!" another familiar voice called his name. The said blonde whipped his head to the voice. He wanted so badly then to see the owner of the voice in his glory; not as the broken doll he was now. He caught sight of those sultry orbs, so different from the duller, more childish ones now, as their owner crouched before his body, protecting him against an invisible enemy.

"Whatis that?" Neji's quiet voice asked the question in everyone's mind. If the situation hadn't seemed so dark and tense, Naruto was sure he would have hugged the older teen then, despite the obvious anger and reluctant blushes. And Shino was there as well! He really felt like crying. Here he thought his fallen comrades were dead, but they were right before him, alive and kicking! Then again, it did not explain why he was, at that moment, only floating slightly above them, as though he were a spectral just there for the show. Could it be that he was in the past? Or even more possibly, in a flashback? But who—

Naruto's train of thought crashed into a brick wall when Shino suddenly grabbed his head and started flailing. His rarely heard voice could be heard plainly then in the form of pained cries. Before his other ANBU teammates could react, though, he went silent and dropped his arms as suddenly as he had begun to flail. The most unexpected thing happened after that; something that would imprint itself so clearly in Naruto's mind like a very bad dream.

Aburame Shino, the bug boy of the infamous rookie nine, exploded.

The scream of horror that threatened to rip out Naruto's throat somehow choked on itself as his friend's blood coated him in splatters. Naruto's mind was reeling. Was this really what happened that night? He couldn't have known; he had been unconscious throughout the whole incident. He had come to, covered in another's blood and with a huge headache. Perhaps it was the reason why he couldn't find Neji or Shino after that; or why Kiba had gone insane, and Sasuke scared shitless about something. He remembered clearly through the throbbing headache that he had had to knock the Uchiha out and use Akamaru's – bodiless – head to bring both ANBU back to Konoha—

Once again, he found himself being jerked out his thoughts when Kiba started yelling almost hysterically. The dog boy wasn't one to be calm in such situations in the first place, and right then, he was rushing forward recklessly as usual to whatever remains there were of his friend. Naruto had to turn away slightly at the sight of the mangled body of what used to be Shino. He cursed Kiba silently. Don't touch him, Dog Boy! Don't touch it…

Naruto almost sighed in relief when Sasuke, the ever-sensible 2nd captain, immediately grabbed for the brunette. Although the other teen struggled and cried against Sasuke's hold, the raven held him still. Uncharacteristically, the Ice Prince of Konoha – also known as Uchiha-prick-Sasuke – wrapped his arms protectively around the crying teen and looked at the disoriented Neji.

"Stay close," he ordered the older boy casually and gave another wordless order that only Neji seemed to know. Naruto envied Sasuke at times how he was able to do such a thing. It was said that all Uchiha had that ability, thus making them very reliable in ambush attacks and battles. Silence was precious in such cases and a silent – properly understood – order was the best. It was what propelled Sasuke to 2nd captain of the ANBU; that, and the small fact that the raven had grown more reliable and less of a brat since returning from Sound.

"Sasuke-san—" Neji's sudden call was cut off abruptly.

Sasuke's beautiful face marred with a frown and worry looked up to the pale-eyed subordinate. The frown grew deeper at the sight of the Hyuuga's Byakugan slowly slipping off. "Neji, what's wrong?"

The older teen turned to Sasuke, his clear eyes slowly giving way to the crimson that had crept from the edges of his too large eyes. A pained croak managed to get past trembling lips as he abruptly exploded into the raven's face just as Shino had. Dark eyes widened in shock as the last of the Hyuuga's blood fell on him. Kiba was still held protectively in Sasuke's arms and Naruto's body was still guarded by the Uchiha's own. Naruto had to say; Sasuke was one hell of a captain to have been able to do that even in such an incident.

"We- We need to get out of here…" Sasuke seemed to finally snap back after a moment. He glanced at the growling Akamaru beside him. "Akamaru, could you—" Sasuke stopped short when he saw the raised hackles of the loyal dog. His eyes now held a hint of fear in them. "Akamaru, what's wrong?"

When the dog began to bark, Sasuke followed the direction of the barking. His eyes widened even more if possible at something just off to Neji's now mangled body. Kiba was clutching at Sasuke for dear life. He was clearly afraid, and the young Uchiha seemed to be his only lifeline. His strangled sobs reached Naruto's ears like a broken song. "Please! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please save me! I can smell it! I can smell it! Death…!"

Naruto was in nothing more than overwhelmed in shock and complete puzzlement. What was it that Kiba and Sasuke had seen to make them react like that? And Akamaru looked so vicious! What was it that disturbed them so?

Look carefully, kit, came the dark voice of the old fox residing within him, Look carefully, but be wary…

Naruto nodded absently in his reply even though he knew the fox couldn't well be bothered to see, and squinted hard enough—

He gasped. Was that…? But it couldn't be! For hovering just a few feet away from his remaining live comrades and his body was a wispy shadow with no form. He licked dry lips. It wasn't possible that he was seeing a spirit – a ghost – now, could it? Then again it could be an illusion to his dreaming mind? Was he even dreaming in the first place?

"Who—What are you?" Sasuke's quiet voice barely trembled in his demand – and Naruto was proud. Trust the raven to do such a bold thing. If it were him, he'd probably be trembling and wailing his ass off by now – probably. The hovering form seemed to chuckle deep in the recesses of his mind. Naruto gagged at it. It seemed as though the chuckle was invading his mind and trying to squeeze its dirty, icy-cold self into his very pores. To put it simply, Naruto was very disturbed by even its soft sound.

Feel lucky you've not seen it personally, kit. If you had, I wouldn't be able to guarantee your sanity either, the Kyuubi's warmer voice interjected to him – and if what Naruto was hearing was correct, the old fox even seemed slightly shaken,What you are seeing is a being even older than I am. And I admit, it terrifies me.

If the situation weren't so serious, Naruto would have gladly laughed, chortled even, at the Kyuubi's weakness. At the same time though, he was scared. Something that terrifies even the great nine-tailed demon was not to be taken into consideration lightly and Naruto found himself praying that Sasuke, or the Sasuke he was seeing then, would not provoke the being too much.

"Silly child…I am not something that you can put so easily into words…I am light. I am dark. I am shadow. I am anything I want to be. I am what you want to see. I am your silliest dream. I am your most frightening nightmare…" the shadow's voice felt worse than the chuckle. It gripped the warmest skin like ice and ripped the strongest heart of its will. Naruto felt ready to cry himself shitless then. He felt so scared. His mouth moved in a silent prayer even though he knew the being would never look at him. It was a memory after all, and it couldn't really be real. He allowed a selfish urge to be grateful that he had not met the being personally. The experience would probably have scarred him for life. Just like how it scarred Kiba and Sasuke…

"You killed my friend, you- you monster!" came Kiba's enraged voice. Naruto couldn't suppress a gasp. Kiba must either be extremely angry to snap like that, what with all the suffocating tension or he was just screaming for his death sentence. Naruto wisely chose the former. He prayed and trembled for the angry brunette, as the being seemed to lean over in amusement to peer into the teen's eyes.

"Such spirit I see. Such spirit that I seek…Inuzuka Kiba…Such wonderful anger you radiate. Would you allow me to take…" its voice was barely audible like a snake's dangerous hiss as it bent lower over the angered Kiba. Sasuke pulled on his subordinate's arm vainly as the other teen fought against the offending hand and leant even closer towards the being, his eyes glittering fiercely from his tears. "Bastard!"

Naruto covered his ears as the being howled right into his soul. Fresh tears leaked from the corners of his eyes even as they watched in horror when the being swooped down on the angry teen. Blood splattered across the empty yard. A white head fell lifelessly onto the ground before two – not including the unconscious or spirited – shocked bodies.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cried and ran to the dog, or what was left of it that could still be considered a body, Sasuke looking very pale and still helplessly trying to pull Kiba back while at the same time protect Naruto's unconscious body. The Inuzuka sat crying on his heels as he rocked to and fro with the lifeless head in his arms. His eyes were dull and any hope or anger in it was gone. The being was nowhere in sight and Naruto had a useless hope that it had vanished.

"You are perfect for me…but I will break you first, and then make you mine…" the slithery voice made the boys shiver and Naruto looked around for it. He noticed at the corner of his eye that Sasuke was doing the same. At the same time, the raven continued vainly to try pull Kiba back. Naruto let out a gasp when he saw it rise right behind the unaware Uchiha. He tried to rush over but he was stuck. Why won't he move?!

This is a memory, kit. Remember that! the Kyuubi's voice grounded him and once again, Naruto found himself only able to watch. And he watched as Sasuke spun around to freeze at the closeness of the being, his lips touching the wispy shadow. He winced as the being's voice echoed into his mind. "You…are so beautiful…Uchiha Sasuke…I will definitely…make you mine…"

Naruto continued to watch, helpless tears of frustration running down his cheeks as he saw the being's strange milky eyes widen to stare right into the Uchiha's own. He watched as Sasuke screamed, unable to stop his walls being forcefully torn apart and his very soul open and raped so mercilessly. He watched still as the being vanished abruptly after imprinting his terror into Kiba's soul as well. The only thing that was left seemed to be its choking laughter hanging eerily in the air.

to be continued…


i'll try update as soon as possible. but for now, my brain is really dry...