Chapter 10: Hurt
Notes from the KIT-chan~
So sorry this took so long—this one was a biggie. ^^" And this week was really hectic for me, as in literally packed with dumbass projects and tests… XP Some of you might be wondering why I still have school around this time. News flash—I still have school until June 22nd… _" So yeah, this week my teachers just decided to fry everyone's brains with research papers, group projects, tests, presentations…and crap. .
All I can say now is that I hope you like this chapter! ^~^
.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.
~o~
"Naruto?" the raven called softly, peeking through the entrance to the usual spot.
At this point, Sasuke had known the blonde long enough and understood that if he needed to take some time to himself or just get away from the world for a while, there was only one place he'd ever turn to.
Suddenly, the Uchiha heard a hiss and a small cry from behind one of the barrels near the shack wall.
He froze and rushed over in that direction.
The raven shifted his eyes and looked around the area, until he finally found Naruto sitting in the corner, who appeared to be fumbling with a piece of rag.
"…Naruto?" the Uchiha called quietly again. He slowly approached the blonde and saw that his side was once again red with blood. "Shoot," he mumbled, and ran over next to the latter.
"Gah…" Naruto muttered under his breath and winced, still fumbling with the soaked rag.
Sasuke stood quietly at the blonde, looking at him with an impassive expression on his face. Then, he knelt down and calmly pushed the latter's hands away from the wound.
Naruto merely stared at the raven, caught off-guard by the action.
"Hn," the Uchiha uttered, looking at the blotch of scarlet. Then he slightly shifted his eyes to glance at the blonde. "You dobe, you're only making it worse like that." He began to unwrap the cloth. "Really smart of you to push yourself into actually running away when you're still in bad shape."
The latter only continued to stare at Sasuke with the same stunned countenance.
Finally, the raven could see the wound on the blonde's caramel-tan skin. Although it was a lot smaller than earlier, there was still a significant amount of blood trickling down. The Uchiha blankly stared at the cut, then looked around for another rag. But seeing there was no other, he glanced down at his shirt sleeve and ripped part of it off with ease.
"Sasuke—" the blonde began, still not believing his eyes.
But the Uchiha said nothing and continued to tend to Naruto's injury, rewrapping it with the fragment of shirt cloth.
The latter paused, then turned away silently.
"There," Sasuke muttered, slightly tightening the cloth around the blonde's waist. He sat up and sighed.
For a moment, there was silence between the two.
Until Naruto finally broke the silence.
"Why," he began softly. "Why do you even bother with some useless, lowlife idiot like me?"
The raven froze at the question and looked at the blonde, his eyes dull again.
At that moment, Naruto cringed. "I'm no one important, damn it!" he cried out, hurt in his tone.
The Uchiha's eyes widened at the sudden mood change.
The blonde clenched his teeth. "Why does everyone…always have to…" He bit his lip, trying to restrain himself. "Why does it…always have to be me!" The latter let out a sob.
Sasuke stared at the latter with a solemn expression on his face.
"I always try to help everyone…but I never could help everyone… Why the hell does this always have to happen to me!" He let out another sob. "Every time…every damn time I move out of my way to try to help someone…to save someone…" He clenched his fists. "Why do I always end up losing someone?" The latter banged his fists against the wall behind him and cried out in pain—emotional pain.
The raven softened his gaze.
Naruto sniffled. "Is it all…my fault?" the blonde wept. "Is it my fault, Sasuke? All I wanted to do…was help them. All I wanted to do…was try to make everything better for them. So then why? Why do I always screw up in the end?" He let out another sob and buried his face into his hands. "Shoot—Choji. I…I tried to protect him. I…I tried to save him, damn it! And Hinata…oh, God—Hinata."
The latter abruptly reached into his pocket and took out what looked like a small, light blue dagger, stained and tainted with dried up streaks of maroon. "All that…" he muttered. "All that crap…for nothing!" He threw the object into the tall grass and sobbed.
The Uchiha looked after the dagger as it fell forward into the tall grass, then turned to face the hurt blonde. He stared at the latter with a pained expression on his face. Sasuke winced as he watched the latter in emotional pain and felt the need to do something—anything that would make the boy well again, but could do nothing. He could only sit there quietly, not knowing what to say at that moment to comfort Naruto.
The blonde exhaled sharply and shook his head slowly. "Damn it—sometimes I don't even think I deserve to live in this hell of a world. What world needs a stupid, dumbass idiot like me? …I should just go roll up in a corner and die." He sniffled again and buried his face in his arms.
Sasuke softened his gaze on the poor latter. At that moment, he closed his eyes, and the following sentence rang through his ears.
"From how it all looks…you may as well be the only one who can help him."
The raven opened his eyes and turned in the direction where Naruto had thrown the dagger. He calmly stood up and walked over to pick up the shiny blue object.
The Uchiha almost shrank back when he saw the two doves dancing gracefully on the hilt again, but stiffened at the brownish-red streaks all over it. He paused, then walked back to the blonde and sat down next to him, still looking at the dagger.
It was silent between the two for a while.
Suddenly, the raven took Naruto's hand and placed the object on top of his palm. Then he gently pushed the tan fingers over it, enclosing the shiny blue dagger.
The blonde flinched a little, then turned to look down at his hand. He winced as he stared at the dancing doves.
"Hn," Sasuke uttered. He slowly placed his hand on top of the latter's. "What makes you think…that any of this is your fault, dobe, when you never even did anything wrong?"
Naruto's eyes widened.
The Uchiha stiffened and scratched the back of his head. Of course-he was never good at any of this stuff, more or less make a baby stop crying. No Uchiha was—the males, at least. But hey—it never hurt to try—especially if your friend's having his own mental breakdown right in front of you.
The raven composed himself and tried to smile a little for the blonde. "Stop overreacting already. You're not the one to blame here." He turned, then looked towards the home of the tyrant.
The latter glanced up to see where Sasuke was gazing, then looked down.
"Last time I heard, it was his fault this all happened in the first place," his voice wavered a little, knowing that was a lie…for him, at least. But he tried—for his…friend? "The one who took us all away from our homes. The one who brought us to this dump. The one who comes in here to torture us every day. The one who…" The Uchiha paused and closed his eyes. "…went so far as to even kill your friends. If there's anyone to blame, it should be him. Am I right, dobe?"
Silence.
Sasuke slowly turned back to face the latter, who was still looking down at the grass.
Naruto thought for a moment, then finally raised his head to gaze softly into the raven's stoic, coal-black eyes.
The Uchiha stared back with an impassive countenance.
The blonde smiled warmly, his ocean blue eyes sparkling again. Then he chuckled and lightly punched the latter on the shoulder. "Teme," the boy drawled.
Sasuke smirked.
After that, Naruto's gaze softened, and he gently put his hand on top of the raven's. "…thanks. A lot. For trying to make me feel better."
The latter softened his gaze as well.
But then the blonde frowned, and his eyes went dull again. "But the thing is…" he began calmly.
The Uchiha waited patiently.
The blue-eyed boy turned away and closed his eyes. "It's not his fault, either."
At that moment, the raven froze. "What makes you say that?"
The latter hesitated for a moment, then spoke. "Because…" He kept his eyes closed, then spoke in a low and soft voice. "I know for a fact that he's been through worse than we have."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow confusedly.
The blonde went on. "No one else knows this, but he's actually felt a lot more pain than the rest of us ever have. More than you…" he paused. "…and more than me."
Sasuke stared at Naruto with a perplexed countenance. "But how? Hasn't he been the one hurting people?"
The blonde slowly shook his head. "Yes, but…"
The Uchiha waited patiently.
"But he wasn't like that before." The blue-eyed boy fumbled around with a few blades of grass.
The raven's face became rigid. "What do you mean? How do you know all this?"
"Because," Naruto began in a low voice. "…he was my father's best friend."
Sasuke's eyes widened.
The blonde paused, then opened his eyes and looked up at the night sky. "Back then, when Konoha was still small, I used to live on the countryside with my mom and dad." He winced a little, then went on. "And it was the same with Shikamaru, Choji, Sai, Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Gaara—who'd just moved from Suna, and…" He paused to look at the raven. "…teme."
The raven froze, then smirked at the latter. "Hn. I didn't know you lived that close to my family back then, dobe."
Naruto chuckled. "But you didn't really know me before—and I wasn't as familiar with you, either." He smiled. "Except I do remember seeing you once by the lake this one morning when I had to help my mom carry all this stuff outside. You were watching a bunch of ducks in the water."
"Huh. Is that so?"
Naruto laughed, his ocean blue eyes sparkling. "Yeah. I mean at first, I thought you even had a black one on your head!"
The Uchiha frowned at the latter. Then he spoke as well. "Hn. Well, I can just vaguely remember seeing you that same day, too."
The blonde stopped laughing and looked at the latter curiously.
Sasuke chuckled. "At first, I mistook you for a patch of hay out in the middle of the field, waiting to be picked up."
"Hey!" the blue-eyed boy pouted.
The raven snickered.
Naruto sighed. "Well, moving on…"
The Uchiha stared blankly at the latter.
"Anyway, as you might remember before, we all lived close together. At that time, Kyuubi was the one who lived the closest to my house." The blonde paused. "And back then, my parents used to work a lot out on the farm. My mom would always have to help pick corn and wheat on the field, and my dad, well…he was actually the leader. Heh. Your dad might even remember him the head farmer who always gave everyone instructions on where to farm. You know—the one who made sure everything went okay." He chuckled.
Sasuke grinned smugly, distantly recalling afternoons when his own father would walk through the door exhausted, complaining about being ordered around every day. But Fugaku always did exaggerate.
Suddenly, Naruto went silent. "But every time that happened…they'd always have to leave me behind—cooped up in my own house every day, and my parents would feel bad about it because they'd never come back from the fields until late in the afternoon." His face became serene. "that was when we first met Kyuubi—and his wife, Okami."
The raven froze. For some reason, that name sounded familiar to him.
The blonde went on, smiling a little. "They were the nicest people you'd ever meet on this poor excuse of a planet. Especially Okami, who actually went out of her way to take care of me every day when my parents were out working—for free. In fact, she took care of Kiba and the others, too, once in a while. You might even know or at least remember her."
And to the Uchiha's surprise, he actually did. He vaguely remembered a woman who had come to his home a few times on the rare occasions that his parents needed to leave town for the market, and he had actually been happy during those days. But for some reason, the only memories he had of her were soft laughter and dancing shades of blue—her skirt, perhaps. And there was also all those books she carried with her in a suitcase and…toys? He couldn't help but smile, even if it was the slightest, at the reminiscence. Then suddenly, the raven froze. Kyuubi's wife?
Sasuke nodded curtly. "Yeah. I remember her now. The woman who taught me how to read."
Naruto chuckled. "Same here. Okami taught just about everyone how to read back then. Gosh, she even made school look bad."
The raven chuckled softly, but then stopped after remembering the very reason he chose to run away from his own home. His face became expressionless again.
"But wait—she was married to Kyuubi? I don't remember seeing that man around Konoha even once."
The latter nodded. "Yeah. But of course you didn't see him. Back then, you would rarely see the man out in public or on the fields working the rest of the farmers. He was one of those guys who kind of liked spending the day all by himself, where there's usually not a lot of people."
Sasuke stared at Naruto emotionlessly. "Hn."
The blue-eyed boy paused, then spoke. "So…you knew Okami, too?"
"Yeah," the raven replied, turning again towards the night sky. "She used to take care of my brother and me whenever my parents had to leave Konoha to sell cash crops at the market." He crossed his arms. "But that only happened once a month, so I didn't see her as much as you did before. That's why I just barely remember her." He paused, then looked back at the latter. "What about you?"
The blonde thought for a long time, then sighed. "Okami was…I guess, almost like a second mom to me." He smiled a little. "You can say she was the one who was always there for me—and for the others, too," he glanced back at the shack. "And Kyuubi…"
The Uchiha waited patiently.
"…he would always come over to visit every once in a while to help Okami babysit me. Heh. He'd even spend some of his time to actually play with me and teach me how to plant potatoes." The latter smirked grimly, his eyes becoming dull again and distant laughter ringing through his ears. "And because they became close friends with my parents, they'd even come over for dinner sometimes—compliments of my mom. Then we'd just talk and actually laugh—a lot." Naruto chuckled. "Almost like a fairytale, right?"
Sasuke stared blankly at the blonde.
Then Naruto's eyes grew dull. "Just like Okami's magic tricks…" He paused.
The Uchiha raised an eyebrow, instantly curious about that last comment. But he knew. He'd memorized every single one she'd shown to him before, from making handkerchiefs disappear to having a bouquet of roses instantly appear in your hand…right out of the book.
Suddenly, the raven heard a low cry come from deep within the latter's throat.
Naruto's face tightened, and he clenched his teeth. "And Kit, too…"
Sasuke stiffened, as another faded memory went through his mind. A baby fox that she always pulled out of her hat… At that moment, his face became solemn.
When the Uchiha still a toddler, he remembered constantly begging for the woman to bring that fox out every time she came over, even when he had actually preferred black cats. But Kit had been a very special fox that had made the little raven forget all that. Not to mention her soft, snow-white fur…
Why was he only remembering all this now? Sasuke thought to himself, wincing. He turned to look at the blonde, but saw that he had once again buried his face in his arms.
The raven's countenance became stoic, and he slowly shifted closer to the latter. "Dobe…continue."
Silence.
Finally, Naruto spoke softly. "Remember that day when we all had to stay inside our houses?"
The raven thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah."
The blonde paused, then continued. "Did you ever wonder…why?"
The Uchiha thought again, trying to recall the memory. "Hn," he uttered, looking up at the sky. "Not really. All I could remember was how my father and mother kept telling me to stay indoors, no matter what. Never took the time to actually think about it."
Another moment of silence.
Sasuke shifted his eyes to look at the blonde. "Why? Dobe, you don't…" he stopped.
Naruto cringed, then looked up at the latter, pain filling his eyes.
The raven almost shrank back after seeing how rigid the blonde's face had become.
~o~
Naruto exhaled sharply, then looked down at the grass, searching for the right words. Finally, he spoke, in a low voice. "Okami was always good at doing magic tricks."
"What happened?"
The blonde cringed, then spoke again. "A few nights before that day, when everyone was asleep…these tall men in wearing black clothes and weird masks came to Konoha. And they were on horses, too."
The Uchiha listened patiently.
The blue-eyed boy went on. "And then I woke up, when I heard loud noises coming from outside. I went downstairs and saw my mom looking out the window. She told me that they didn't know who those men were and that my dad had gone outside to find out what they wanted. She told me to go back to my room and sleep. But I couldn't sleep that night…"
Sasuke blankly stared at the latter.
Naruto paused, then looked up at the sky aimlessly. "And then I heard a crash and people yelling outside. I couldn't help but look out the window…" He winced. "That's when I saw them taking Okami away. Her hands were tied behind her back and they put her on one of their horses. Then I saw Kyuubi, yelling at the men, and my dad trying to talk things out with them."
The raven's eyes widened.
"I didn't see what happened after that because my mom came into my room and pulled me away from the window. She told me to go to sleep for the night and that everything would be okay in the morning." The latter hung his head, his face solemn. "But I still couldn't sleep, because I was scared that they were going to take me away, too." He winced. "But then the next morning…I heard my dad talking to these other people. I found out that Okami had been arrested for witchcraft by the ANBU Black Ops, the official police of the Land of Fire, and was going to die for it. …they were gonna hang her, Sasuke—for her harmless little magic tricks! How could that be witchcraft?"
The Uchiha stiffened, his face becoming rigid.
The blonde paused. "…but there was a way to stop it."
The raven relaxed slightly.
"My dad…he could have been able to stop it because he was the leader of Konoha. The ANBU had asked him to come to court—to tell them if he'd seen Okami do those magic tricks, and said that his decision counted for the rest of Konoha, too. If he said yes, that means the village said yes, and they'd hang her—but if he said no, they'd let her go." His face became rigid. "But there was a catch."
The Uchiha waited quietly.
Naruto's gaze became intent. "My dad…couldn't lie. They'd told him that he couldn't lie when he talked to them because they were able to sense his heartbeat. They threatened him that if he was lying…"
Sasuke stared at the latter stolidly.
"…not only would they just kill Okami, but they'd punish us, too, and burn down Konoha."
The Uchiha shrank back.
Naruto closed his eyes. "Back then, this was a big problem for my dad, and he really didn't know what to do. He'd already consulted the rest of the farmers at that time, yet they still couldn't decide between saving Okami or protecting Konoha. They cared for both of them just the same. And Kyuubi…he was literally on his knees, begging my dad to help Okami. You should have seen the look on his face…"
The raven's face became rigid. "What did he do in the end?"
Silence.
"…dobe."
The blonde stiffened, then looked at Sasuke with sad eyes. "When we had to stay inside that day…" he spoke softly, then stopped. He turned away and slowly shook his head.
Sasuke's eyes bulged. "No way."
Naruto looked into the raven's eyes with a pained expression on his face.
~o~
The blonde slowly turned away, his blue eyes filled with melancholia. "They hanged her," he spoke in a shaky tone. "They hanged her out in the middle of everyone's houses. That's why we all had to stay inside…"
Sasuke shrank back appalled, his eyes bulging.
Naruto clenched his fists. "Kyuubi got so mad…and then disappeared from Konoha the next day. No one knew where he went or heard anything from him again. But Okami…" He shuddered.
The raven softened his gaze.
But then the blonde paused. "And here I thought that Kyuubi would never come back, but then…" At that moment, his face became grim. "…he did. That's when everything changed."
The Uchiha frowned.
"He came…in the middle of the night, when I was asleep. You were already gone and moved away by then. Everyone did…because they were afraid that something like that would happen again. So my family and I were the only ones left in that area." Naruto paused. "I was asleep in my room…when I heard a scream from downstairs."
Sasuke stiffened.
The blonde cringed. "I woke up...and ran out to see what was going on. But before I could even get to the door…" He gulped. "There was fire everywhere."
The raven's eyes widened.
"But I still ran," the latter continued, his voice shaking. "I ran downstairs, looking for my mom and dad, shouting their names through the smoke." Suddenly, Naruto stopped. "And then, that's when I finally found them on the floor." He gasped, then exhaled sharply. "There was blood…all over the floor. And those eyes…belonged to the same man. But Kyuubi just wasn't Kyuubi anymore. His eyes…they were bloodshot. Blood…like the color bandanna he was wearing that night…"
The Uchiha shrank back.
The blonde trembled and hugged himself. "It…it was terrible—that night. He…was so cruel. I even thought he was gonna kill me, too. But he didn't…" He immediately looked at Sasuke, fear filling his eyes. "He said he was going to something worse to me…and then everything went black." Naruto closed his eyes. "When I woke up, I found myself in this shack." The latter pointed behind him. "It was so dark…and cold."
Sasuke stared at the blonde with a blank expression on his face.
"You wouldn't believe what he did to me in there." The blonde shuddered. "Day after day. It hurt so much. So much…blood."
The raven stiffened.
"And after that, I wanted to get out…so badly. But I couldn't." Naruto closed his eyes. "Then at some point…he finally got sick of torturing me half to death. I wanted to hurt him back, too…so much. I started yelling at him, begging him to let me go." At that moment, the memory ran clearly through his mind, and he could almost hear himself when he had been shouting. "But I stopped, when he grabbed me by my shirt collar and pulled me close." The blonde shivered. "I tried to pull back, but then he punched me in the stomach and whispered something in my ear."
The Uchiha's face became rigid. "What did he tell you?"
Naruto paused. "He told me…that I wasn't going anywhere."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
The blonde lowered his head. "He told me that I was going to stay here for the rest of my life, whether I liked it or not. Then he just left me there, broken and half-dead."
The raven frowned.
Suddenly, there was an ominous silence. Then Naruto spoke in a low voice. "Pretty soon…I finally understood what he was talking about." He paused, his eyes growing dull. "Turned out my dad had made his once best friend… into my frickin' godfather."
The Uchiha's eyes widened.
The blonde's face tightened. "So from that point on…I didn't have a choice but to stay with him, since the ANBU considered me legally his under my dad's will. And I still am." He clenched his fists. "The stupid ANBU Black Ops—who didn't even know what really happened to my parents. The stupid ANBU who wouldn't even believe me when I told them what Kyuubi did…"
The raven stiffened.
"Life was hell for me after that. But the monster didn't even stop there. He told me that it wasn't enough to hurt just me and wanted to get revenge on everyone else, too—everyone else who had lived in Konoha. That was when he took Kiba next and burned down his home, too, after killing his parents. Then he began taking the others from their homes, too—Shikamaru…Sai…" Naruto paused. "But this time, he stopped burning down everyone's houses, preferring that their parents would already suffer enough from losing their own kids…" He looked up at the Uchiha. "The same with you."
Sasuke looked at the blonde with a sad expression on his face, still feeling half-guilty about the stupid decision he had made…when he actually had a choice not to come with the tyrant. But it didn't matter now.
Suddenly, the latter spoke again, lifting his head to look up at the night sky and shifting his gaze to look at the two unique stars. His blue eyes glittered as the moonlight shone down on him. "But even though he's put us all through all this pain…no matter how much it hurts, I still can't help but feel sorry for the guy."
The Uchiha stared blankly at Naruto.
The blonde went on, his face becoming melancholy. "He loved Okami—just like how Kiba loved Hinata." He winced. "Even though he's not the same anymore…" Naruto glanced down at the dagger in his hand and held it to his face, the ivory doves shining under the moonlight. "…I still believe I can bring the old Kyuubi back—even if it means getting hurt every day." He paused. "He's only like this now because of how much pain he feels losing Okami…like Kiba was after Hinata died."
The raven's gaze softened.
Naruto's face grew solemn, his eyes becoming more intent. "I want to change his heart, too—like everyone else's," he spoke unwaveringly. Then the latter shifted his eyes towards the damaged fence section in the distance, pain in his eyes.
Sasuke stared at the blonde with a solemn countenance.
The blue-eyed boy paused. "But this time…I'm not going to make the same mistake. Not again." He hung his head.
The raven gently placed his hand on top of the latter's.
Naruto cringed a little. "I won't…let anyone else get hurt because of me."
~o~
Notes from the KIT-chan~
Can't say much right now…have to study for a chem test. . But I hope you liked this chapter. ^_^ And all I can say now is that the next chapter is in progress as we speak and I'm trying really hard to get the next one in a little earlier. ^^" Despite next Friday being finals for meh… .
(FYI—I didn't purposely name the baby fox Kit. It was either that or Zorro. ^^" But that name didn't sound as cute… ^^" Ah, well—just know that Kit has nothing to do with KIT-chan. XD)
Stay tuned for the next chapter and PLEASE REVIEW! ^_^"; *bows*
Ja ne~! ^~^
.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.
*Note—no post on LJ this time. Sorry, guys—my hands are literally full right now. ^^" Not to mention all the plot bunnies I have to handle later, too… XD