Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Orochimaru would have been savagely ripped apart upon his death.
Don't ask.
Warning:
Violence
Language
Sexual Content
Possible Spoilers
Yaoi
KEY:
"talking"
thinking/talking to kyuubi
kyuubi talking in his mind
'writing'
Last Chapter of B r e a k i n g F r e e...
Naruto pulled himself into a fetal position, burying his head in his knees and began to cry out all of his sorrow.
What Naruto didn't know was how lovingly Sasuke had brushed his hair aside.
What Naruto didn't know was that Sasuke looked back at Naruto's slumbering form to engrave the image in his head.
What Naruto didn't know was that Sasuke called his name when he had been brought over the edge.
Chapter 11 - "the Melancholy" - Start
A sigh echoed throughout the room, followed by the rustling of fabric and the sound of a person shifting. More silence ensued before the sounds were repeated.
"This is way too boring." A deep voice was heard, the words echoing all around the two figures in the dark room.
"Is it time yet?"
Silence.
"Well? Is it?"
Across the room, two eyes slid open, revealing the red eyes of a mastered Sharingan. The owner of the eyes gave a slow sigh.
"Yes, Kisame. It is time."
Kisame gave a deliberately maniacal chuckle. "Finally! Let's go, then." He heaved his Samehada over his shoulder, starting for the door.
"Retrieve Tobi. He will be joining us."
Kisame sneered in Itachi's general direction. "Tch. That annoying brat?" He rolled his eyes.
"Just do it."
Kisame growled under his breath. "Yeah, yeah."
When Kiba finally arrived with a sheepish look on his face, the rest of the team trailing behind him, the sun had already risen to its mid-morning position. Kiba turned around to face the small group, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck-a habit that he had picked up from Naruto. He begun walking backwards in a fast pace, easily keeping a steady distance from the 4-man group that was following him.
Each of the members (excluding Shikamaru) had deep frowns on their face, looking as if they were keeping themselves from whopping Kiba upside the head.
"Heheh... Here it is. I could have sworn that he went north.." Kiba chuckled nervously.
Kakashi growled menacingly under his breath, stepping forward at a faster pace and pushed Kiba lightly to the side. "Enough of your bullshit, Kiba. Why the hell were you keeping us from finding--"
Kakashi abruptly cut himself off and froze in his spot, his eyes slightly wide. Sakura's expression changed to worry as she stepped up to him, pulling on his sleeve a bit.
"Kakashi-sensei? What is it? What's wrong?"
Kakashi shook his head slowly, staring blankly ahead. "The chakra signature..." he muttered under his breath. Kiba flinched, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Neji and Shikamaru exchanged wary glances before fanning out their chakra.
Sakura frowned and closed her eyes, following the other two's example, she lightly fanned out her chakra. She gasped almost immediately.
"Sasuke..."
Shikamaru pulled his chakra back in and sighed, rubbing his head. "This is way too troublesome."
Neji gave an uncharacteristic roll of his eyes. "It is our mission to go after Uchiha."
Kakashi's eyes hardened at Neji's statement. "Yes, it is our mission to go after Sasuke. Not just Naruto's." He turned and fixed a hard glare on Kiba.
"I'm assuming you knew that Sasuke was nearby and allowed Naruto to go after him. Correct?"
Kiba let out a soft sigh. "Yeah. Kinda."
Sakura raised a questioning eyebrow. "'Kinda'?"
"Yeah, 'kinda'," Kiba repeated. "He was actually approached by Juugo-one of Uchiha's teammates."
Sakura's expression fell and morphed into a genuinely confused one. "Naruto was approached by Juugo? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Kiba rolled his eyes. "Exactly what it sounds like. Juugo came to Naruto and asked if Naruto would go see the Uchiha. He's evidently been pushing himself too hard in going after his brother. Juugo said he believed that Naruto could make him think better.. or somethin'."
"Where the hell were you during all of this?" Neji crossed his arms.
"I had popped up somewhere during the middle of the conversation. Naruto had started to hesitate and I know Naruto better than that. He should be chasing Sasuke-no matter the dangers. If he abandoned Sasuke..." Kiba shrugged and crossed his arms, backing up a bit. "He wouldn't be the Naruto we know. Naruto would never abandon his friends. I just helped him in the direction that he was eventually going to take."
Kakashi ran his hand through his white hair. "So you told him to go after Sasuke," he stated for confirmation.
"Yeah." Kiba straightened up, waiting for his punishment.
Kakashi stared at Kiba, looking for signs of stepping down. After a few moments of an awkward silence Kakashi let out an annoyed sigh.
"...Fine. We probably would have done the same anyways..." He motioned to the two behind him, Sakura, and himself.
Kiba gave a smile and turned around, heading in the direction he had previously felt Naruto's chakra.
He walked a few more feet, finally stepping past the trees and into the small clearing that he felt Naruto's chakra signature in. He looked around, seeing a few logs assembled close to the middle, but... no Naruto.
Kiba tilted his head to the side slightly, frowning. He walked to the small encampment, growing more and more worried. The 4-man group following him grew more restless by the second.
Kiba broke into a run halfway to the center, surprising his teammates. What the hell is wrong? Sakura thought, changing to a run after Kiba. The other 3 followed their example, clearly worried about Naruto.
Kiba leaped over the closest log and swiveled around, kneeling. "Naruto!" He reached down grabbing something and pulling it up, revealing it to be Naruto. The rest of the group landed around Kiba, entirely confused on what was going on.
Kiba shook Naruto's shoulders. "Naruto? Naruto?! Are you ok? What the hell is wrong?! What happened?"
Naruto was fully naked except for his boxers, his arms lying limply on the ground next to him. His eyes were a dull blue, directed at absolutely nothing.
Sakura was terrified. She had never seen her long-time teammate like this and had no idea what could have caused it. She reached forward, her hand shaking slightly, and brushed a golden lock behind Naruto's ear. "What the hell could have happened to him..?" She asked shakily.
Neji frowned deeply, shaking his head and rubbing Naruto's forearm worriedly. "I have no idea..." Kakashi shook his head too, an unreadable expression on his face.
Shikamaru took in Naruto's appearance, calculating exactly what could have happened. It then dawned on him. He turned to Kiba and tilted his head questioningly. Kiba caught the gesture and bit his lip, looking down at his close friend before giving a sharp nod. Shikamaru shook his head sadly at what Kiba had just confirmed. "Well, we had better get him cleaned up."
Kakashi's and Sakura's heads shot up at the sound of Shikamaru's voice. They exchanged a quick glance before nodding simultaneously. They pulled their packs off of their backs and tossed them to Neji. "Please set up our tents," Kakashi demanded as nicely as possible before turning to Naruto and holding his hand out to Kiba silently.
Kiba pulled Naruto's pack off of his shoulder, placing the strap in Kakashi's hand. Kakashi opened the pack, pulling out a black ninja outfit lined with orange, slipping it onto Naruto while Sakura held Naruto up and adjusted his position to dress him easier.
Neji scowled, holding back the insult that was threatening to spill out of his mouth. He gave a silent sneer before turning around and setting up the smaller, individual tents of Sakura and Kakashi. Kiba pulled out the tent that he and Naruto shared and began constructing it while Shikamaru pulled out the supplies for the double tent out of Neji's and his own pack.
Sakura ran her fingers through Naruto's hair silently as she watched the three of them set up the tents. When they had finished, Kakashi had laid his hand gently on top of Sakura's and smiled sadly, pulling it away. He heaved Naruto up and took him into the tent that he shared with Kiba.
When Kakashi came out of the tent, he approached the small campfire that the rest of the team was sitting around. He sat down on one of the logs and folded his arms, inhaling and exhaling deeply before fixing his eyes on Shikamaru and Kiba, sitting side by side on the other side of the fire.
"So. What the hell happened?"
Sakura cast Kakashi a questioning glance while Neji nodded agreeably.
Kiba and Shikamaru exchanged glances before Kiba nudged Shikamaru. Shikamaru heaved out a tired sigh.
"Well, in a nut-shell... Naruto had his heart broken."
Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow. "And that means...?"
Shikamaru sighed again, getting annoyed at the fact that the rest of the team wasn't understanding.
Kiba decided to explain to the team in a way that they could understand.
"Basically, Naruto fell in love with Sasuke and he couldn't take it when Sasuke left again."
The two ignored the three pairs of widened eyes around the fire and got up to go check on Naruto.
Yep. They definitely understood with that statement.
There was a sloshing sound in the darkness. The sound of feet running through shallow water echoed all around him.
"Wait...!"
A hand slowly came into view, extended in front of him.
"Come back...!"
It was his hand, reaching forward.
"Wai--"
He closed his eyes as he felt himself falling.
Falling.
Falling.
Falling.
A loud splash was heard.
He put his hands on the ground below him, heaving himself up out of the shallow water. He spit out some water and groaned quietly, opening his eyes.
He saw a figure ahead.
"Wait!"
He began the chase again.
"Sasuke!"
He extended his hand again.
"Don't leave me!"
Sasuke's back grew smaller again.
"Please! Don't go!"
Naruto fell again.
"Please!
Naruto stood up again.
"Take me with you!"
Naruto looked up again.
"Please...!"
Sasuke had disappeared again.
Naruto sank to his knees, his eyes becoming dull. Time passed. Maybe seconds, maybe minutes, maybe even hours.
A deep voice boomed from an unknown direction, surrounding him and breaking him away from his hysteria.
Come on, kit. Time to snap out of it.
Everything faded to black.
Naruto sat up in bed abruptly, panting uncontrollably and sweat running down his forehead. He wiped his hand across his face, keeping any sweat from getting in his eyes. On the opposite side of the tent Kiba looked up from grooming Akamaru and gave a sad smile. He put down the dog's brush and slowly scooted toward Naruto.
Naruto began frantically kicking off his blankets and reached for his pack that was lying nearby and opened it. He pulled out different items, repeatedly muttering the word 'no' under his breath. Kiba gently pulled the pack away from Naruto's violently shaking hands and set it behind him. He reached underneath Naruto's pillow and pulled out the scratched hitai-te. Naruto's eyes flashed with gratefulness as he snatched it out of Kiba's hands and held it close.
The side of Kiba's mouth twitched upwards a bit as he saw Naruto slowly rock side to side with Sasuke's hitai-te in a death grip. He continued to watch him for a few moments before a thought occured to him and he gave a frown.
"What happened, Naruto?"
Naruto froze, his eyes wide. He slowly turned his head in Kiba's direction, seeing the worried and serious expression that Kiba had.
Naruto didn't speak. He just continued to stare at Kiba.
Kiba gave a bitter smile. "I guess it was my fault, huh? I should have never let you go. I should have stopped you. I regret--" He was cut off by Naruto slapping a hand over his mouth.
"I..." Naruto's voice was shaky.
"I don't regret it."
Kiba's eyes widened as Naruto's hand slowly slid away from his mouth. Kiba stayed silent, urging Naruto to go on.
"We.."
Kiba nodded reassuringly.
"We had.."
Naruto stopped and went silent. He stayed silent, turning his head away from Kiba and staring at the zipper-door of the tent.
"Sex?" Kiba asked bluntly.
Naruto turned to Kiba with his eyes wide.
Kiba shrugged. "I could smell it on you," he said lightly. He gave Naruto a small smile. "Like I said before, I won't judge you."
Naruto gave a small smile in return and nodded. "Yeah..."
Kiba stayed silent for a few more moments. "So... he left," he said with little finesse.
Naruto flinched, tears welling up in his eyes and gave a sad nod.
"Well.." Kiba paused. "We'll just have to follow him, won't we?"
"But..!"
Kiba shook his head. "Don't give up. You're Naruto. You would follow your friends to the ends of the world, ne?"
Naruto's expression went slightly dull. "Yeah."
Kiba patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It'll be alright. I promise."
Naruto nodded and turned over to go to sleep. Kiba watched Naruto's back rise and fall worriedly for a few moments before shaking his head. He turned to Akamaru and patted the space next to him. Akamaru got up and trotted to the aforementioned spot and curled up next to his master. Kiba sighed quietly before lying down, silently pleading for sleep to claim him.
The group of four ninjas leaped through the foliage, jumping from branch to branch in the forest. The shinobi at the front halted, landing on a branch and standing still, before holding his hand up to stop the following ninjas.
The three following him stopped on individual branches, watching their leader's actions curiously. The leader jumped down and landed on the ground, the rest of his group following him. The man turned and fixed his eyes on his group members, his gaze lingering on the largest member momentarily before he spoke quietly.
"I believe that they are nearby. Karin..?" He fixed his gaze on the only female member. Karin shut her eyes, fanning out her chakra. She opened her eyes and nodded in confirmation.
"Yes... two of them are 3-5 miles due south and one of them is 4-7 miles southeast. I believe that Itachi is the one southeast."
Sasuke nodded his affirmative. "Alright. You three take the two to the south and I will take Itachi alone."
Suigetsu shrugged while Karin's eyes widened in horror. "But Sasuke! You can't! It might--" Sasuke glared at Karin, effectively shutting her up.
"Go."
Karin and Suigetsu continued in the direction that the group had been heading, following Sasuke's orders. Juugo lingered behind.
"It seemed as though you wanted to speak to me..." Juugo said knowingly.
"It's because of you that he came." Sasuke spoke lowly.
"I do not deny it." Juugo gave a small smile.
Sasuke stared at Juugo for a moment before turning away and murmuring something quietly and then darting off into the trees.
Juugo smiled, turning in the direction that Karin and Suigetsu had gone, pleased that his small plan had worked effectively.
After all, it wasn't every day that you heard Sasuke say 'thank you'.
-Chapter End-
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