X
By ZAFO
A/N: whooo, just finished the Legend of Korra finale and it was AWESOME! :D so sad that it's over now. anyway, on with the story!
–
Kuvira's capture had riled up the Earth Empire more than anyone ever expected, and the region remained in turmoil five years after the fact. Though Prince Wu had told Korra in private that he planned to step down from the throne and abolish the monarchy altogether, he never got the chance to do so before rogue loyalists slipped into his quarters and beat him into a coma.
Mako still blamed himself.
Without Wu or Kuvira there to force a decision, there was a power vacuum up for grabs, and the upper ring of Ba Sing Se had turned into a constant game of whack-a-mole. Korra didn't know what to do. Republic City was still rebuilding after what Bolin had aptly dubbed the Day of the Colossus, and President Raiko neither could nor would spare the resources for aid. The Northern and Southern Water Tribes had more or less stated it was none of their business, and Fire Lord Izumi similarly refused to get her nation involved with 'unnecessary foreign skirmishes.' On top of that, Kuvira's rift with Zaofu was well-known amongst her supporters, and metal-benders were both feared and hated amongst her non-supporters. The most qualified person for the throne—Suyin—was therefore out of the running, unless she wanted an even bigger headache to deal with.
As it was, the Air Nation was the only international power willing and able to bring some semblance of order to the Earth Kingdom/Empire/Whatever.
Korra desperately wished her avatar connection wasn't severed. Never before had she so badly yearned to converse with her past lives. Toph had disappeared once again, and Katara had died in her sleep a few months after Lord Zuko's peaceful passing two years ago. There was no one left to connect her to Aang, and she couldn't reach Avatar Wan either. Sure, Tenzin tried his best to guide her, but the Air patriarch seemed equally frazzled these days.
"Asami..." She moaned, flopping down onto their well-worn couch."…why can't I ever catch a break?"
The Future Industries heiress rubbed her backside sympathetically. It was evening, and Mako, Bolin, and their relatives were all gathered downstairs for dinner—leaving the girls free to converse on their own. That was rather hard to do nowadays when 30+ people lived in the Sato Mansion.
"You got a hard job. Any luck tracking down Baatar Jr. today?"
Korra made a strangled noise in the back of her throat.
"No, the little shit. I thought he changed—we should've never agreed to let him visit Kuvira! She's brainwashed him again, and now he's carrying out her dirty work with the rebels!" Her voice lowered. "…I thought Kuvira had changed."
Asami tactfully chose to ignore the latter comment. "Poor Su." She murmured instead.
"You got that right." Korra snorted. "She's dealing with a bunch of trade issues at the moment, too."
"Trade issues?"
"Yeah. Zaofu's having a hard time securing enough platinum to rebuild the domes. Su's running all over the place now trying to get that extra security back."
"Why does she need the domes again?" Asked Asami, raising an elegant brow. "After what happened—"
"—exactly." Korra interrupted firmly. "It's because of what happened. While Zaofu's mostly made up of civilians, most families have a metalbender or two—and as you know, metalbenders aren't too well-received these days."
"I don't see why we need the domes for that."
"Think about it." Korra said tiredly. "Everyone in Zaofu is terrified right now—and I don't blame them. Someone sent a spirit bomb threat to the Beifong estate just last week!"
Asami merely sighed, purple-lidded eyes dropping to the ornately carpeted floor.
"Sometimes…" She said softly. "Sometimes I wonder when it'll finally end."
"To quote Toph," Korra replied sarcastically "'The names change but the street stays the same.'"
–
Naruto opened his mouth, then closed it again. All the fear and loneliness and anxiety that had built up for the past couple days—hours? years?—had dissipated upon sight of another sentient being.
A being that was… chained to him.
Naruto glanced down at their bonds—slightly sweating—before looking up again at the increasingly impatient man.
The jinchuuriki willed all the nerve and bravado he could into his first reply.
"Wh-what did you say?!" He demanded. "Actually, forget that! Who are you, dattebayo?!"
The redheaded man rolled his eyes, then sighed irritably, smoke literally billowing out from his nostrils.
"Who do you think I am, monkey? They couldn't have chosen a dumber vessel to house me in!"
"Vessel…?" Naruto echoed. Vessel, Vessel, Vessel. The obvious dawned on him fairly quickly. "…YOU'RE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!" He screamed accusingly.
Kyuubi smacked the trembling finger that had been pointed at him in annoyance, baring his canines again.
"Watch it monkey, or else I'll break that stinking paw of yours! And don't you dare shout at me again."
Naruto reddened gracelessly.
"I am not a monkey!" He snapped, almost instinctively. "I have a name!"
"So do I." Kyuubi muttered. "But it's not like you call me by mine either."
Naruto's eyes widened at this. The thought had never even occurred to him—it was such a random, bewildering thing to discover, that the Uzumaki recoiled as if struck. The 'Kyuubi' merely gazed at him with intense distaste.
"You have one too?" He asked hesitantly, not sure where to go next.
"Of course I do!" His tenant answered haughtily.
"What is it?"
The fox demon looked down on the small, bewildered child chained to his wrist and narrowed his eyes. The blond-headed brat reminded him far too much of the Yondaime—only louder and infinately more idiotic—but there was no choice...
"I'll tell you," He warned, "but only because we have to work together to get out of here alive. It's Kurama."
Naruto blinked.
"Kurama." He let the name roll off his tongue.
Kurama. Kurama was the demonic entity sealed inside him. Kurama was the deadly nine-tailed-fox. Kurama…
The genin looked up at the very humanoid figure next to him.
…Kurama was not as furry as he remembered.
He couldn't help it; the stilted awkwardness of the situation made him snicker. The Kyuubi, with a name?! If only he could tell old man hokage now!
Kurama merely raised a brow.
"Kurama." Naruto chortled. "I can't say it's nice to meet a jerk like you, dattebayo, but my name's Naruto!"
"I know."
Naruto's snickers settled down. He pointed unashamedly.
"Why are you… I mean why do you look…?"
"Human?" Kurama asked disgustedly, swatting the boy's finger again.
The demon made a move to sit down, and Naruto soon followed. It wasn't as if the genin knew what he was doing anymore, and since his tenant actually seemed to know what was going on, it was worth it to calm himself and listen.
Kurama wasn't nearly as hostile to him this time around. Part of him grew fearful at that—things must have been serious for the demon to bite back his spite.
"Something's wrong with you." Kurama said plainly, sharp eyes shifting from red to orange to gold. "And it's affecting me too. I can feel a foreign energy blocking our chakra. I don't know what triggered it, but it's reduced me to this form, and it's also what's giving you the power to chuck rocks so easily."
"Chuck rocks? I only did that once." Naruto thought back to the wall of earth he had summoned. "I thought—I thought that maybe it was a Kekkei Genkai. I never knew my parents, so…"
"Trust me, it's not. When you wake up, I doubt that you'll be able to use any chakra at all. But you'll probably still be able to manipulate the earth."
A cold, heavy feeling seemed to settle, then harden at his core. Naruto blinked once, before disbelief and outrage bubbled up.
"WHAT!" Naruto shouted belatedly. "THAT'S—"
Kurama clapped a clawed hand over his mouth, looking murderous.
"Keep your voice down." He hissed. "Do you want Koh to slither out and devour us now?! Once is enough; twice is pushing it!"
Naruto briefly toyed with the idea of chomping down, before settling on wrestling the hand away from his face. It would have been more than unpleasant if Kurama decided to plunge those sharp, three-inch nails into his cheeks as retaliation.
"Who is Koh?!" He demanded, voice lowered accordingly.
"Koh is the ancient spirit who resides here." The demon replied. "He steals faces."
Watching his jailer blanch quickly, Kurama fought the urge to forfeit his own face on the spot.
"Faces like that." He gritted, roughly cupping Naruto's cheeks before pulling away. "If he sees you express emotion, he'll eat it."
"Well why can't we just fight him off?!"
"Can you fight totally expressionless?" Kurama asked seriously. "Koh isn't a mere shinobi, brat. He isn't even a demon. He's a spirit, and he has powers neither of us can fully understand. This is his realm. This is how it works."
"Well why can't we just get out of here?!" Naruto asked with rising alarm, "If we can't beat him—"
"—because you led us here." Kurama answered. "We're in the spirit world. Do you know the way out?"
"What?" He exclaimed. "No, of course not!"
"Then this is some stupid psychological thing. I don't know either, so unless you and I want to be stuck here forever, our only choice is to ask him."
Naruto clenched his fists.
No.
Naruto shook himself. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't give up. He knew he was probably in over his head, but he had to get out of this place ASAP. Sasuke and Sakura were waiting. Kakashi-sensei would be so disappointed in him if he failed—never mind Iruka-sensei…
"Fine." He said resolutely, shuddering. "We can do it. I know we can."
"I know I can." Kurama muttered.
Naruto glared.
—
This was bad, real bad.
Gaara was playing with them. That was the only reason why Sakura had been able to drag her feet away with Naruto hoisted haphazardly on her back, and why Sasuke himself was still even standing.
The sand clone lunged at him again, and Sasuke dodged quickly, taking a swipe at the thing with his kunai before repositioning himself beyond its immediate reach. He fingered his pocket for a second kunai while keeping a steady gaze fixed on his opponent.
Sasuke couldn't use his chakra. At all. This devastating realization had come earlier when he had tried to go on the offense. His mind whirled. He didn't know what to do.
But he wasn't going to run.
Sasuke had already expected to die—when Team 7 had battled against Orochimaru—and he was fully prepared to do so again if it meant buying time for his friends.
At the steely expression that developed on Sasuke's face, Gaara saw another beginning to overlap. Instead of a 12-year-old boy dressed in blue, he saw the flickering visage of a 16-year-old dressed in foreign green robes, a furious red scar etched on the left side of his face.
The forested landscape around them shifted into that of a walled city...
"You'll have to defend yourself." Gaara found himself saying. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead. Show me what you can do."
"You want a show? I'll give you a show!" Sasuke snarled. Unconsciously, he raised his kunai before him as if they were twin swords.
Then Gaara's sand clone shot towards him, and Sasuke twirled around the attack with a strange agility he didn't know he possessed, slashing at the figure before evading again. The clone, of course, regenerated quickly, and Sasuke gave one more futile, vicious stab with his weapons.
The clone's head lobbed off. As it recovered, Sasuke made a dive for the real Gaara, only to be slapped away with a thick tendril of sand firing out of Gaara's gourd. He tumbled a several feet away from his target, one of his kunai lost in the fall.
"You must be getting tired of using those kunai." Gaara sneered, his usually monotone voice turning uncharacteristically spiteful and taunting. "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?"
'…Firebend?' Both boys thought vaguely, as soon as the Suna nin's words tumbled out.
Never the less, the battle didn't stop. Sasuke made a few more unsuccessful attempts at attacking the real Gaara, only to be smacked away like a rag doll each time. Large, black-and-blue bruises were beginning to cover his porcelain-pale skin completely. Gaara felt both satisfied and enraged at the sight.
Naruto long forgotten, Gaara glared at the Uchiha before gathering the bulk of his sand, then buried Sasuke under it.
With only his head free, the Konoha nin screamed furiously.
"Bet you wish you could help yourself out with a little fire blast now!" He taunted again.
"You're the one who needs help!" Sasuke yelled.
Déjà vu rapidly overwhelmed both boys. Too bad their current situation was just as tense as their past.
—
Sakura Haruno listened to the faint sounds of battle from afar, tears dribbling messily down her face. Gaara and Sasuke were yelling at one another—and from the sound of things, Sasuke was most likely losing.
Sakura had no illusions about the Sand nin's strength. She knew that she would be killed point-blank if she returned to help—and then Naruto would be left vulnerable, and Sasuke's sacrifice would have been all for nothing. But if Naruto were awake, if Naruto were awake…
Sakura bit back a sob and buried her face in his chest. All she ever seemed to do as cry. When would she ever be good enough to protect them?
"Naruto, please wake up." She begged. "Please wake up, please, Sasuke's in trouble…"
—
With two days left to kill, Team 8 relaxed together in a waiting room of the exam tower. Tenten was draped over the couch, Neji was sitting on one of the armrests untangling her ninja wire, and Lee was on the floor playing with his new pet.
"Lee," said Tenten. "When are you, uh, gonna put that squirrel back?"
Lee gasped as if she just confessed she killed puppies for fun. Aware that the 'Green Beast' was the one who had saved it from the Sound nin, the squirrel chattered happily as Lee hugged it closer to him.
"Tenten, never! This furry creature has become a most youthful companion! I have even named him—from this day onward, he is an official member of Team 8!"
"'Member' is pushing it." Neji said flatly, finally succeeding in undoing a knot. "Mascot, maybe."
"Well, what's its name then?" Tenten asked curiously. She nodded her head in thanks as the Hyuuga handed her the first set of clean wire.
"Bosco." Lee answered affectionately.
The squirrel nibbled delicately on his finger. Neji rolled his eyes, and Tenten giggled.
—
"Here it is." Kurama said grimly.
Naruto stared at the dark abyss leading into Koh's domain. A skinny baboon flitted across the base of the tree, and when it turned his head, a blank slate greeted him. He drew back in alarm.
"That's what will happen to you," Kurama continued "If you show any emotion in Koh's presence. The only thing you can do is talk and blink, and you better make it as monotone as possible."
The jinchuuriki took a deep breath.
He could do this. He could do this.
"I'm ready."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm ready as I'll ever be."
"Alright." Said the fox. "Let's go. Try not to get us killed, brat."
"Bastard." He replied, before schooling his scowl into a neutral expression.
"Remember." Said the demon, his voice low. "Show no fear. Show no emotion at all."
Kurama and Naruto stepped into the wooden cavern. They descended the shadowed stairway, heeding the eerie sound of crawling legs and knocking scales above them. The air was moist and dank, and Naruto faintly noted that it smelled of decay.
The jinchuuriki knew that they were being followed, and fought the increasingly unsettled feeling that washed over him. The deeper that they went down the stairway, however, the stronger the feeling became. The aura radiating from Koh wasn't the same as killer intent. No—it was far more calm, far more menacing, far more calculating…
Before long, an enormous centipede wearing a gleeful Noh mask dropped down from the ceiling. It curled the clacking segments of its body around them languidly, and Naruto took a sharp breath at the action.
"Welcome, my old friend Kurama… it's been a long time. How may I help you?"
Naruto stopped. Kurama closed his eyes.
"You two know each other?" The boy asked, his voice carefully empty.
"How could I forget?" Koh exclaimed in delight. "The young fox demon who once wandered in here with the Sage of Six Paths… but what's this? Why have you taken on a human form?"
Kurama slowly opened his eyes again, the jewel-toned orbs piercing and bright.
"Something is blocking my chakra. Our chakra," he emphasized, pulling the chain linking him to his jailer. "Keeping my original form is out of the question."
Koh paused, then abruptly switched his Noh mask out for the face of an old man's. His voice was tinny and whimsical. Naruto fought the urge to wince.
"Not something," Koh replied. "Someone."
"Who?" Asked Naruto.
Koh turned his attentions to the genin then.
"Ah, it's been a long time since I've added child's face to my collection…" Koh grinned grotesquely. A fanged Tengu shifted into place. Naruto swallowed. "…or a demon. But I digress. You two don't know?"
"No, we don't." Kurama said smoothly.
Koh laughed, and the sound was malicious.
"The spirit of a king." He answered. "From the other side."
"Other side?" They asked simultaneously.
"You didn't think your world was the only one did you? Surely at least you can't be that ignorant, Kurama."
The fox demon didn't answer.
Koh's body coiled closer around them. Naruto's hand twitched towards his weapons pouch, gazing at the spirit's glistening black scales.
"Why are you here? As I remember, you weren't too fond of my abode even then, fox." The Tengu receded, and long brown hair erupted in its place. Naruto expected something monstrous to emerge, but a pretty young woman surfaced instead. Her lips curled up mockingly. "I doubt you'd willingly pay me a visit again!"
A girl. How had Koh gotten a hold of her? Naruto almost wanted to mourn—she looked so familiar. She could have been someone from Konoha.
Swap the brown locks out for pink, the chocolate eyes out for emerald, and the tan skin out for something paler, and the new face could have easily belonged to an older Sakura...
Naruto exhaled roughly, expelling a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Disgust was evident in his stiffening posture.
Koh took notice, sliding up to Naruto immediately.
"Oh? Does this face resemble someone you know? She isn't of your world, if that is any comfort."
Naruto didn't answer. Kurama stepped in between them.
"I'd be lying if I said I would." The demon continued, ignoring the change of conversation. "Actually, I dragged my little human here because we're lost. We need to return to the physical world, and we don't know how."
Koh smiled, turning his attentions again to the fox.
"I see." He said lightly, his interest finally fading. "For that, you'll need a guide, and I feel a presence outside this tree that's taken a liking to this child."
"A presence?" Naruto murmured.
"Yes." Said Koh. "A presence. He's been waiting for you. I can feel the emotion from here."
Kurama bowed, tugging the chain signaling for Naruto to do the same.
"Thank you." He said. "Naruto?"
"Thank you." Naruto repeated dutifully.
"We'll be taking our leave now."
The spirit hummed. All in good fun. The human-demon duo had stayed impressively stoic throughout their interaction; Koh knew he would get no more trophies tonight.
"Do visit again." Sang Koh, resigned, as he made a move to uncoil.
"—wait." Gritted Naruto, unexpectedly.
The centipede paused.
The genin could feel both set of eyes upon him, but he was only looking into Koh's.
Koh's female visage had given him an idea. While Kurama had been talking, Naruto had been envisioning multiple faces upon the spirit's head, but the only one he wanted stolen was… Orochimaru's.
He had only one chance to destroy him. The jinchuuriki had stumbled into this landscape randomly, and met a compliant Kurama and Koh only by circumstance. The opportunity wouldn't come again.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Naruto summoned up every last vestige of courage before he continued:
"You've got competition, dattebayo. There's a man, woman, whatever after me, and he or she steals faces too."
"Is that so?" Koh asked curiously, shifting closer.
Spirit and jinchuuriki were practically nose-to-nose now. Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets, shoving down his simmering apprehension in the process.
"Yeah. I'm not strong enough to take him on my own yet, and Kurama can't help now that that king or whatever is blocking our chakra, dattebayo. I can't predict when the bastard will attack again. So… so help me." He requested firmly.
The dark cavern filled with metallic, wicked laughter. Though his expression was carefully neutral, Kurama had visibly paled beside him. Naruto began to wonder if he'd made the mistake of his life.
"You wish for my aid? Well, well, well… I've never been propositioned for anything other than the return of a loved one before. And what would I get in return?"
Naruto thought for a minute before responding.
"A new face. Maybe more. And a taste of the physical world." He paused. "My world."
Koh smiled.
"And how would this happen?"
"Shinobi make contracts all the time. Kakashi-sensei has a contract with nin-dogs, and another sensei called Maito Guy has a contract with a giant turtle."
"This interests me…" drawled Koh, the woman's face taking on a frightening leer. "Bring the contract here!"
"I have to write one up."
"You don't know how." Kurama interrupted, tugging urgently at the chain once again.
"That's where you come in." Answered Naruto, turning to him. "I mean, you're like a million years old, dattebayo, you know how to write one, right?"
Kurama looked straight into his vessel's eyes, then at Koh's beastly, smirking countenance.
No. No way. He turned on his heels, quickly grabbing Naruto's wrist and jerking him under his arm—making sure his flowing sleeves covered the boy's surprised face completely. The spirit uncoiled almost playfully as they quickly made their way up the dark staircase.
"The knowledge escapes me at the moment," Kurama called tersely. "We'll be back!"
"It's a date." Koh's voice echoed easily. "See you soon, Naruto."
—
Shikamaru's shuriken hit the mark, and the last Cloud genin's neck tore open. She fell to her knees with a bloody gurgle, and the Naara heir quickly put her out of her misery with a kunai thrown straight at her heart.
Blood splattered.
Ino tiptoed cautiously over to the body, then grimaced before dropping down to rummage for the scroll they needed. Choji deflated his Baika no Jutsu and trotted over to his teammate with awed expression.
"Shika," he started. "That was amazing! You took down the whole team all by yourself just with weapons—we didn't even have to go into formation!"
A few feet away, their blonde teammate raised their new Earth scroll with a triumphant cry.
"AHHH, YES! Here it is! Shika, you're awesome! I'd totally date you if you weren't such a slacker!"
"Who says I'd accept?" Shikamaru muttered, ignoring Ino's subsequent glare. "Troublesome. Go clean up or something, you're all bloody now."
"Yeah yeah," she waved, huffing. "You need a bath too, don't judge."
"Forget baths!" Exclaimed Choji. "When did you get so good at marksmanship? And when did you become so brutal?" The Akimichi gestured to the body at Ino's feet. "I thought you didn't like fighting girls…"
"I don't." He answered absentmindedly. "But there are only two days left, and we need to pass. Going into formation is a waste of time and energy when the other team is obviously weak enough to take out swiftly."
"Still…" Ino said hestitantly, wiping her hands on some spare bandages from her thigh pouch. "Maybe taking them out like that was overkill."
"Whatever."
"These are your first kills, aren't they?" Choji asked hesitantly. "Are you… okay?"
"I'm fine." Shikamaru grunted. "But if I have to kill another team on our way to the tower, I'm gonna throw up."
—
"Are you stupid?!" Kurama hissed, as they emerged from the tree. "You want us to make a contract with Koh the Face Stealer?!"
"It's so that I can beat Orochimaru and protect my teammates, dattebayo!" Naruto snapped defensively.
"You're even dumber than I thought! Should have expected no less, from a stinking human!"
Naruto bristled. Whatever 'trust' Kurama had put into him had obviously expired.
"Shut up, fleabag!"
"You little dumbass!" The demon roared. "You're gonna die if you drag us back in there, you hear me?!"
"I'm not gonna die!" Naruto shouted. "You just have to write the contract right so that he can't backstab me!"
"I'm not writing shit!"
"Bastard!"
"Idiot monkey!"
"Motherfu—"
Rapid, lopping footsteps bounded towards them, and the human-demon duo stopped bickering to turn towards the source of sound. Slowly, the goat-gorilla from Naruto's vision flounced into view, wagging a thin tail behind it.
(Memories of mornings tripping over a furry mass on the floor, afternoons in the park playing fetch, and evenings before the fireplace at home flooded to him.)
Naruto widened his eyes in realization.
"...Flopsy?" He asked, bewildered.
The creature stopped just short of running him over and gave him a sloppy lick, while Kurama looked on in disgust. It whimpered pitifully while circling the genin, and Naruto felt his heart melt, despite the utter bizarreness of it all.
"I think I know you, kind of." He murmured, scratching behind its ears. "Are you the presence Koh talked about? Are you the one who's gonna lead us outta here?"
Flopsy nuzzled his shoulder. Then it turned its back to them, crouching down to a position easy to latch onto.
"I take that as a yes!" Beamed Naruto, cheering instantly. "Kurama, c'mon!"
"Stupid chains." The demon muttered, as Naruto tugged him towards their beast of burden. "Thank Kami I don't have to deal with you once we get out of here."
—
Gaara didn't know what came over him—he usually never moved during fights—but seeing as Sasuke was highly incapacitated at the moment, he stepped out from behind his sand clone and walked over to the bound Uchiha.
Sasuke looked up at him with a murderous glare. Gaara scowled back. The other boy's pale skin and black hair were rousing an unnatural, almost nationalistic hatred in him.
"Fire Nation." He murmured bitterly, unthinking.
These words stirred something in Sasuke as well. His eyes widened upon seeing Gaara's foot come down.
(Dressed in navy blue robes adorned with a white, patterned collar, a plump old man with balding grey hair embraced him. When they separated, gold eyes gazed at him seriously. The sky above them bled dark crimson.
"You struggled." He said. "You suffered. But you have always followed your own path. You've restored your own honor. And only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation.")
Sasuke screamed as Gaara stomped on him. He ate dirt. Blood flooded his nose—it was probably broken.
("Evil and good are always at war inside you... It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side…")
"Why did you jump in to save them… those teammates of yours?"
("My name is Zuko!" He cried. "Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, and rightful heir to the throne!")
"Once I'm finished with you," Gaara continued viciously, digging his foot into Sasuke's bleeding head "I'll hunt down the other two next. First the blond one will die, then the girl…"
("You've always thrown everything you could at me!" He cried, tears streaming down his face to the grey, thundering skies. "Well I can take it! And now I can give it back! Come on! Strike me! You've never held back before!")
The mixture of blood and dirt in in his mouth was becoming unbearable. The pressure on his head was increasing. No. No. No. If he didn't get up, Sakura and Naruto were going to die. Gaara was going to hunt them down like animals, and then it would all be over.
He didn't have anyone left but them. In the short few months they had spent together, Team 7 was the closest thing he'd had to family since—since—
(—ITACHI.)
Sasuke felt tears welling up as he thought of that man. Then the beginnings of that day vanished, pushed aside by the vision of a crying brunette curled into herself. The cave around her was covered in glowing emerald stalagmites, and a throaty teenaged voice—His. His?—echoed gently through it.
("It's okay. I always thought this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, doomed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny. Even if I'll never be free of my mark…")
He couldn't let Gaara do that.
"Do you want to know why?" Sasuke gritted, voice muffled, as Gaara stopped grinding his foot "Because they... are my precious people."
—
Naruto's eyes fluttered open. He scrambled frantically to his feet as soon as he heard the words "Sasuke's in danger" slip from Sakura's lips.
—
A/N: well, how was it? Tell me what you think ^^
Edited: 1.9.18