Warnings: Not much.
--
C. Seven;
Starting To Change
Seidai; year 3012; small campsite near the waterfall
How should I feel? To know that the one thing in my life that I adored the most is now gone? More importantly, how am I supposed to feel when I have the knowledge that my 'best friend' stood there and watched her go when he could have done something about it? It's bad enough that he let my BLIND daughter run around in a bombing raid. She was lucky I found her before something bad had happened. Can I even trust him like I did anymore?
--Kiba
Nothing was quite the same since Hinata had passed away. Kiba was more depressed than happy, Kawatta now had a routine of waking up in the middle of the night crying and asking for her mother, and Sasuke was now extremely withdrawn, much to Naruto's confusion. The blond seemed to notice that whenever Sasuke had took off to be alone, Kiba's mood had gotten a bit brighter, and he smiled every now and then when playing games with his daughter; that angered Naruto to no end.
It wasn't Sasuke's fault that she had passed away. It was of her own free will and desire to keep her daughter alive. Then why, Naruto questions, does Kiba – and to some extent Kawatta – act like it was? Naruto also found that Sasuke's name had turned taboo in Kiba's presence. How could two people that were so close end up turning away from each other without a second thought? Naruto didn't know, but he made it his mission to get them to stop being so immature about it and grow up.
Naruto decided that he'd talk to Kiba about it later, probably when he had Sasuke there and willing to talk, too, and go in search of Sasuke first. And since Kiba refused to say anything to him about Sasuke, he had to go out and search blind. He hoped he didn't get lost.
--
Naruto failed at being a seeker. He looked all around the campsite - made for temporary use – and found no sign of his friend. When Sasuke wanted to disappear, he sure knew how to do it. It was like he had vanished without a single trace.
Naruto had thought about the waterfall that Sasuke had pointed out to him earlier, but there were two problems with that: one was that he had forgotten the way there, and the other was that it was getting rather dark very quickly, and he estimated that he had about an hour before the darkness would completely take over. He didn't like the idea of Sasuke being gone for so long, and he especially didn't like thinking about the possibilities of Sasuke getting hurt. He'd rather just find the Uchiha so his mind could finally be at ease.
--
Sasuke sat under the waterfall, hugging his knees, letting the water wash his troubles away, even if for a little bit. Sasuke didn't know what to do anymore, or even how to feel. He felt so alone, and he can see the way Kiba looked at him with hate, and how Kawatta always inched away from him whenever she sensed he was around. What had he done that was so terrible? Was it Hinata?
Sasuke closed his eyes. The darkness he found there was so calming, and he could feel himself relax a bit. All the stress he was under lately wasn't helping him and his current predicament at all, and escaping for a little while was the only thing that was keeping him sane lately. Just being at the camp with Kiba and them made him edgy, paranoid. It was like he had this feeling they were going to jump him – or worse – and it was all over something he had no control over.
What a joke. It was not like he wanted one of his best friends to die, and if Kiba could only see how much he had tried to persuade her to let him help her. He could have gotten them both out, but she insisted that he go. And did he plan on getting his shoulder practically sliced in half, resulting in Kawatta running away? Not exactly. Another thing that Kiba hadn't seen was how long he had been out looking for her, driving himself mad for not being able to find her. Why didn't anyone care? They weren't the only ones hurting....
He slowly reopened his eyes, the world outside almost as dark as the one within. He had to leave soon, or else he'd never find the path back. Sasuke personally didn't mind staying under the fall all night, but he knew that he couldn't risk getting sick. The water was starting to give him a headache, and his shoulder was starting to throb again. Being near exhaustion didn't help, either.
He stood and stretched, his muscles sore from staying in the same position for way too long. He stepped out from under the water and shook his head. Sasuke wasn't looking forward to going back at all. He hated being looked at and treated as though he himself were the villain.
When he got back, Naruto was the only one up. Sasuke noticed the light, pained look on his face, and that he was running his fingers over what looked like a scrape on his nose. The blond didn't seem to notice as Sasuke silently walked toward him, crouching in front of him and grabbing Naruto's wrist gently. The blond was startled for a minute, but soon relaxed again.
Neither of them spoke for a few, and Naruto was the one who broke the silence. "Um... are you feeling better?" He asked.
Sasuke shrugged. "How did you get hurt?"
"I... I went to go look for you--"
"Why?" Sasuke interrupted.
Naruto began to hesitate. "I... I just did. So anyway, I went looking for you, 'cause I was getting worried, and I didn't want you getting hurt or anything--"
"What does it matter?" The brunette said coldly. "No one else seems to care. They could care less about what happens to me."
Looking at the ground, Naruto said softly, "I do, and it matters to me, 'cause you're my friend. I don't blame you one bit, you know. You tried, no matter what anyone else thinks. I may not know much about any of you, but I know that it's not normal for such close friends to be so cold to each other like this."
"I could have done something more--"
It was Naruto's turn to interrupt him. "No," he said firmly. "Don't even go there. As much as I hate to say it, Hinata's dead. She's gone. There's nothing any of us can do but move on. And from this point on, you need each other. They're all you have right now." Naruto paused for a brief second.
"I don't understand any of this, Sasuke," he said. "I truly don't. Don't let something like this tear you guys apart. Being alone isn't fun, you know. So suck it up already."
Sasuke, who still had a hold of Naruto's wrist, said, "You still haven't fully told me how you got this scrape."
Naruto perked up a bit. "Oh, right! Like I was saying. I couldn't ask Kiba where you were, so I decided to go and find you myself. It was getting really dark, and so I decided to give up and wait for you to come back. Well, on the way here, I was clumsy enough to trip and fall on my face! It stings a bit, but other than that, it's bearable."
Sasuke slowly stood and headed toward his tent – which they miraculously were able to recover after the raid. Before he walked inside, he turned back to Naruto.
"Uh, thanks for... caring. It's nice to know that there's at least one person who isn't damning me to Hell right now."
Naruto stared at Sasuke's retreating back, letting his words sink in, and couldn't help but smile.
--
For the third time that night, Officer Hatake reread the folder left in the preservation capsule he found in that cave after the bomb raid. None of it made sense. He knew that long ago, there was a group of scientists that performed experiments and wanted to prove their power and worth to the world through their inventions and knowledge, but he didn't know that one of them had managed to create a human.
At the academy, they were taught such things, just in case, but Kakashi hadn't expected that he'd ever run across something that he'd need to use the knowledge for. In cases like this, he would normally have to turn the folder or evidence in to his superior officer for safety measures, that way they could analyze it and such. But this... he didn't know what to do with it.
The letter that was enclosed in the folder... it wasn't signed, and just the mere thought that this guy created life was mind blowing. All Kakashi knew so far was that the man created a human, and that human had some sort of unknown power of extreme proportions. The experiment's 'name' was K2, and Kakashi didn't know how to interpret that. For all he knew, it could be code for something, or just a meaningless label that was given to him to make the scientist's life easier. The boy and the man also had a strong bond; strong enough for the man to save the boy instead of himself. And what could it possibly do that no other man can? It made absolutely no sense (as he concluded for the hundredth time).
As the officer began to process all of this, his eyes widened in realization. This thing – this experiment, could be walking among them at this very moment. It could be anywhere, and since it has no real control over its power (from what Kakashi had assumed), it could be extremely dangerous. He was truly at a loss as to what to do.
So, after hours of mulling it over, Kakashi had decided it'd be best for him to turn it in. The higher-ups may have more information on the matter than he does, and they might have a clue as to what to do. Besides, just having the bundle in his possession this very second was enough to suspend him.
With his mind made up, he slipped the folder under his mattress, praying for some much needed rest.
--
Spinning, blood-red eyes.
Unbearable pain.
An eternity of torture summed up in only a few brief minutes.
He could feel the knifes digging into his skin; feel the blood running down his sides.
The sting of his tears as they ran down his face and mingled with his sweat.
He was confused, in pain, and so lonely. So, so alone. There was nothing and no one there but the suffocating darkness, and the fear of not knowing when the next strike was to come.
What had he done to deserve this? What had he said? What had he seen? He couldn't even think, so he just pitifully shut his eyes and waited for the pain – for everything – to just stop. For time to once again move and for light to make itself known; pierce through the darkness and show him the way out of this nightmare.
... Was it a nightmare? Was he truly dreaming this up? Everything felt too real to be fiction, and the black too recognizable. A tiny part of him had told him he'd seen this darkness before, but couldn't recall where.
Was he losing his mind so soon?
Naruto woke with a start. His head hurt, his face was wet with unbidden tears, and fear was laced tightly through every part of his body.
He could remember the pain and dark like it was yesterday, and how unbearably long it was. The hopelessness was too overpowering, making his body shiver uncontrollably. He always told himself that it never happened, that he wasn't sent to that place, and had always managed to believe it until the nightmare came back and slapped him in the face. He was able to trick himself so well, to the point where he'd unconsciously say something like, "I wonder what would happen if it ever happened to me", or "I never want to go through what those men did", but then the truth comes back saying, "I'm here. You're never getting rid of me."
That dark place was somewhere he hated going to, and it was somewhere where nothing meant anything anymore, and no matter how loud you screamed, no one would come to save you. You couldn't see what was hurting you, yet you knew it was there, and each strike hurt twice as bad as the one before it.
It got worse and worse, to the point where your body would reach its limit and you'd start to go mad. It'd eat at you, until there was nothing left. You could feel yourself slipping away... far, far away. And then, in an instant, you're back into the world of light, and the physical pain is gone. Time starts up again, and life moves on. But yet you are bound to the spot, too afraid to move a muscle, too afraid to do anything, and most of the time, you even forget how to breathe and think. You're just a doll, a body with no soul. But then you black out, and when you woke up next, you'd find your self back in your bed, almost as if nothing ever happened.
Naruto didn't want to go back to those times. He never wanted to experience anything like that ever again in his life. He nearly had a breakdown after seeing Sasuke's eyes... so closely resembling Madara's... but couldn't afford to. He had worked so hard to build up his composure, and couldn't risk losing it now.
Besides, Sasuke was nothing like his old master. That man was cruel, cold, and always shut away. But still... Madara had taken the time to teach him, to learn from him, and to help him better understand himself and his place in the world. Madara also gave him a reason to live, and was overall pretty good to him. Naruto still didn't understand why his master sent him to that dark and lonely place, but what he did know was that it conjured up some resentment toward him. How could someone do something like that to someone they were so... Naruto didn't even know anymore.
Sasuke looked like him, Sasuke walked like him, had the same aura around him that Madara had. But Sasuke wasn't a cruel man, as far as Naruto could see. The Uchiha was so distant and withdrawn, almost as if he didn't want to get close to anyone. Naruto could partially see where he was coming from – the only two people in the world close enough to call 'friend' was either dead or resenting him with everything they had – but still couldn't grasp how quickly things had changed for the worse. And what bothered Naruto the most was the fact that Sasuke closed himself off from him, too, when all he wanted to do was help.
Why was Sasuke so afraid? What was Naruto missing? Was it guilt, or something else? Why was Naruto at such a loss of what to do? He wanted to help, he really did, but he just didn't know how. He didn't understand the way Sasuke worked well enough to try, so all he could really do was offer words. Just words.
Sasuke was also very confusing at times. It was like he had all of these different personalities within his mind, and he couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to be himself, or one of them. Naruto could tell when Sasuke was really being Sasuke, and that made him happy, because that meant he was seeing a side of him that he normally never let slip. He found ways to make Naruto smile, and laugh, without even trying to.
Naruto began to realize that he was starting to like Sasuke, whether or not he wanted to. It was confusing, because he didn't know what it was that was drawing him in... but at the same time, he felt this sort of relief. If he could fall for anyone, he'd rather it be Sasuke, because he trusted him, and he somehow knew that even if Sasuke never liked him back, the Uchiha wouldn't throw it in his face later.
Naruto would just have to wait it out and see what happens. If it comes down to that, then he'll deal with it when the time comes. And hopefully, his heart wouldn't end up broken, intentional or unintentional.
--
Fixed grammatical errors.
