A/N: Hey, all, sorry for the short chapter and the wait. A lot has been going on, and this couldn't really be that much longer because of the next chapter's contents. Any longer and this chapter would be a novel in and of itself.
And now, some news. I was out-of-writing service all last week due to a back infection. Not my fault, but I couldn't sit right (and I still can't), and I'm just today going back to school. Missed all last week, and it's the end of the quarter, too.
I have a bunch of stuff going on the next two weeks as well. I get to go visit relatives, and then after that I'm working at a music fest for a couple days. Why am I bringing this up? I'm not going to be able to update. At all. During those two weeks.
So, that's all I've got so far. I owe a big thank you to Kyoji-kun from Gaia, who gave me Sasuke's scene idea. If not exactly, it inspired me...otherwise this chapter would have been A LOT shorter.
And now I'm done rambeling. Read and enjoy.
Sasuke had always hated parties. They were stuffy old things, where everyone tried to impress everyone else. They would all convene on one person's property, the annoying cockroaches of the wealthy world, and try to pick at the dregs of riches that were left over from a successful family.
Dinner parties were the worst. During those, Sasuke had no choice but to sit and attend them for as long as the dinner commenced. It was made even worse when Itachi would always make a point of making them after the French restaurants, a full three-hour meal.
Too bad for Sasuke, only one third of that meal was over with. And to top matters off, he was sitting beside the two most annoying creatures to ever walk the planet.
On the one side, he had Sakura next to him. She was chattering his ear off about some fashion magazine, wearing a gaudy pink dress and having her limbs weighed down from the sheer mass of gold jewelry that she had decked herseld out in. Her hair had probably taken a good two hours to do, piled on top of her head and making her look like she wore the Eiffel tower.
On the other side, he had Ino. She was trying to out-dress Sakura, he was sure, since she was wearing (if it were possible) an even horrid dress than the pink-haired girl was. Her dress was a grey blue color and had so much glitter on it that every time she moved, she shed. Her hair resembled less of the Tour d'Eiffel than the leaning tower. The weight of all the jewels strewn through it had caused it to tilt to the side. Sasuke couldn't help but wonder if she would break her neck that way. He hoped she would.
Sighing, Sasuke flagged down one of the servers and had some more wine poured into his glass. He was well aware of the fact that he was probably drinking a little too much, but it was better than listening to the inane chatter that was brought around by feminine hormones.
Besides, this was only his third glass. He figured he could handle a lot more before he became too drunk to know one female from another. Plus, there was no way in any sort of hell that he would get caught drunk around two predatory women such as Sakura and Ino.
Taking another sip from his now-full glass, he wondered about his life so far. Wondered, because he wasn't quite sure if he was reflecting on his life or just complaining about it.
And, of course, the first thing to cross his mind was a certain annoying blonde. And if he had been completely sober, he might have really wondered if he wasn't ill or something, because he wasn't supposed to be giving any thought to Hamasaki outside of how incredibly annoying and idiotic he was.
But it was curious to him as to why Naruto got so worked up over a single picture. It wasn't like it was one of the idiot naked...Sasuke shuddered as a mental image of Naruto in nothing but his birthday suit decided to manifest itself into his mind. He took a very large gulp of his drink while he tried to get the image out of his head.
Sighing, he slouched. Not even a frightfully cruel stare from his brother could make him sit straighter. He really didn't want to be at the dumb thing anyways. He didn't even know why Itachi had him there, outside of a sort of reminder to the world that he was a good older brother, taking care of his younger sibling and keeping him from trouble, the streets, and poverty.
Sasuke smirked at a new mental image, one of his brother completely out of character as he 'glomped' his little brother. That had about a snowball's chance in hell of happening.
Which wasn't such a bad idea, considering. If anyone were to ask Sasuke, or even care about the answer, the brunette would have loved to have lived on his own. He wouldn't care if he had to work for everything. It was a miserable existance indeed when he had to rely on a family member of whom he was positive didn't like him.
He could almost envy people who hung out with Naruto. That in itself was a depressing thought, especially when Sasuke knew how they all lived.
Kiba worked part time at a rundown restaurant and gave the rest of his time in volunteer work at the local animal shelter. He had only a mother, lived in a ghost of a house, and was always scrambeling for money to pay bills and utilities.
Lee, on the other hand, lived in the middling area. He only had a father and spent most of his time doing emergancy construction work. He worked late and started early, yet he and his father made enough money to live somewhat comfortably. Plus, Lee had all kinds of days off during the winter and still got paid for it.
Gaara, on the other hand, lived in the same building as Naruto. Like the blonde, he, too, lived on his own. Also like Naruto, the redhead got a monthly allowance from the government for being an orphan. It was hardly enough to pay for housing and all of the other bills needed, but that was made up for by the two each having jobs. Naruto worked at a local grocery store. Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't know where Gaara worked. It was a complete mystery to everyone, it seemed, but the stoic teens young friends.
Sasuke realised that he was out of wine and, had he been any other angsting teen, would have pouted because of it. Instead, he sighed (an action of which he realised he seemed to do a lot of) and pushed his glass back.
Just as he was wishing he could shoot himself, one of the final courses was brought out. As it was placed in front of him, and Sakura and Ino ceased their chattering, Sasuke thought At least, when this part it over, I can go lock myself in my room. He began to eat.
Floating in an abyss, he was sure this was a familiar scene. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember why it was so familiar. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, safe and out of danger
Then he was flying over a landscape at record-high speeds. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that if he wasn't careful he would crash into something and become a halfway decent imitation of a pancake. He wasn't too worried, though.
Suddenly, he was falling. He began to thrash around, trying to flip himself over. Not that it would do any good, trying to land on his feet. Something was preventing him from saving himself, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Scenes swirled around him, seeming to decide where best to deposit him.
As everything seemed to slow down quite suddenly, the swirling colors made up their mind and threw him into a room. It was, for the most part, empty. There was a railed balcony on on end, and opposite that was a pair of hands. The hands made some sort of symbol that nagged in the back of his mind, but he couldn't place where they were from.
He was fighting with someone, and it looked like it was his best friend. Kiba, and the little white puppy that he was working towards adopting. Akamaru, or something. They were working together, fighting for something, wearing their school uniforms.
No, wait. That wasn't right. He was fighting like an animal, as if he were possessed by a kanine. And he was wearing an odd outfit. A grey jacket, the hood up, fuzzy fur surrounding the object, blending in with his hair. He also wore blue cotton pants, with bandages wrapped around one of his legs. Was he hurt?
But no, too late, he was back to the current Kiba.
Looking up, he saw the new gym teacher, Gai. The bowl cut-haired man was standing there in his turtle shirt, arms folded. Lee was there as well, both looking pretty much the same and overlooking the battle.
Then they were both wearing horrible green spandex, with orange leg warmers. It nearly burned his eyes to look at them. Then, in a flash, they were back to normal.
With the blink of an eye, he noticed Mr. Hatakenaka, wearing the black slacks and turtle neck. The scene swirled around the silver haired teacher, and the outfit changed with him.
Now he was wearing what appeared to be black breeches and a black turtle neck. A green vest with many pockets sewn onto it was closed over the shirt, and bandages wrapped around his legs from knee to sandal-clad feet. Gloves covered his hand, but not his fingers, which made it odd in his mind.
The scene was of a forest, a little clearing in the trees. In seconds, the Hatakenaka look-alike whipped out a book. His face was incredibly serious, making the entire situation incredibly funny. The book, entitled Come Come Paradise, was flipped open to somewhere around the middle, and the psych-teacher, now in his modern clothing, began to laugh and gasp at appropriateintervals.
Another scene change. This time in a new forest, along a path that led to some unknown place. Mr. Hatakenaka was back in the old clothing, stuck inside a globe of water that looked more like a prison or a cage.
Hovering over him, with his hand in the water, was Zabuza Morioka. He had a giant sword-like object strapped to his back over an unclothed chest. His breeches looked like they belonged in the army or something, patterned in grey and white camoflague. He wore sandals like everyone else did in the past, and had his arm covered with some loose, elbow-length purple-striped gloves. He also had half his face covered in bandages.
He himself was standing, facing the two. He knew that if he looked behind him, he'd see his two comrades.
As all this flowed into his mind, the psych teacher, back again in modern clothes, spoke. "The demon...Zabuza!" He was staring straight at his captor, both eyes wide and accusing.
The past-turned-modern art teacher would have been smirking had anyone seen his face. "It would seem my reputation has preceded me."
A blink of an eye, and a weapon was flying past him. The one he had given one of his teammates, but how he knew, he couldn't say.
Another blink of an eye, and Zabuza was being picked up off the ground by a person dressed in a green haori with grey hakama, a ceramic mask covering his face. He disappeared with a whirlwind.
Another flash, and they were in a newforest. There was a girl- or was it a guy?- sitting in front of him in a pink kimono, a little black necklace encircling his neck. He smiled and turned to him. A blink, and he was wearing the grungy outfit of the student art teacher, Haku. She- he?- was talking.
"Do you have anyone special in your life?"
A blink. The masked fighter was being thrown across the scene. Getting up, his mask cracked and fell, revealing the face of Haku of the past. Then he was in modern clothing again, and another change followed as they fought on a bridge.
Mr. Hatakenaka, Mr. Morioka and Haku. They all coverged on one end, all of them from the now and dressed as he had last seen them. Mr. Hatakenaka had a hand full of something, something he knew was powerful and deadly. And he was going straight for Mr. Morioka. Just before that deadly something hit, Haku leapt in front of him.
Then they were in the past again, and Haku was smiling.
Another scene. This one of Sasuke, his teammate, his comrade, his friend, facing the Haku from the past. He was standing there, shaking, and he turned his face to say something. "...No matter how many times I warn you, you still keep getting in my way."
He turned around fully, and he saw that Sasuke was stuck with needles. He was bleeding from all of the cuts, and clutching his stomach. "Now get that lame expression off your stupid face...dobe!"
A blink, and they were both facing each other. He was standing, looking up at Sasuke, who was standing on a building. He had just returned from Otogakure... His heart was racing.
Another blink. They were inclass, and someone bumped into him. Then they were kissing each other, even if it was accidental. So why was his heart racing?
Blink. Sasuke glaring at him, during the first exam, because he had raised his hand. Why did it hurt when he wasn't supposed to care?
Blink. He was frozen, facing those people attacking him. He was going to watch Sasuke get hurt. He didn't want that to happen. He needed to move!
Then he was watching Sasuke freeze in front of a strange woman. That wasn't like Sasuke. Why wasn't he moving?
Then they were facing each other, fighting on water, ignoring any and all laws of physics. He didn't want to fight him.
A blink, and it was the young boy fighting for his life.
A blink, and a worse scene came up.
Blinking, blinking, they wouldn't stop. They sped by his eyes, flashing across faster and faster until they were just a blur. They swirled around in a whirlpool of sights and emotions, each more confusing than the last.
Then it all darkened, turning into a black abyss. They faced each other, Sasuke looking down on him with a sneer. He knew that he was wounded, where he had been stabbed by someone he had trusted. He could feel life slipping from his fingers, why, why...?
"Urusatonkachi, did you really think I'd stay with you? That you and I could really belong?" The speaker leapt forward and drove a weapon into his heart. With a gasp, he fell into the man's awaiting arms. "You were never meant to be...Naruto."
He awoke, screaming.
End Chapter
Thanks to Kyoji-kun for inspiration
Any questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please review.