Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the Naruto Universe.
I'm kinda anxious about writing this chapter. I hate writing fighting scenes. Writing about feelings and inner turmoil I got (I think) and it comes easily, 'specially because Imma psych major as well as a self-diagnosed extroverted introvert. But I dunno jack about real fights and adding ninjitsu to all that? In my mind, my little fight scenes are straight and to the point; then I read them over and find that I essentially wrote an elaborate He-Hit-Him-On-the-Head-and-He-Passed-Out so I need to draw it out more because this is Naruto where a fight can last 4 episodes minimum.
Plus I'm guessing there will be a lot of expectations for THIS chapter because I'll (crappily) write how Naruto was named the village's Ultimate Weapon (OMG TITLE) and it is revealed just how aware Naru actually is whilst mind controlled . .
Oh well, might as well get started with it.
Onward with the story!
"Naruto: ENGAGE!"
As soon as he heard those two words, Sasuke swirled around so his entire body was facing Naruto.
When those two words spouted from that fucking bastard's mouth, Naruto reacted.
Naruto was still crouching on the branch in the tree across from Sasuke, but his hands flew to his head and clutched it as if he were in pain. His knees seemed to give out so he leaned forward as a result from kneeling now as opposed to his previous crouching form.
Naruto was clutching his head with so much force that his mask snapped in half due to the pressure that was applied to it.
When the mask fell, Sasuke saw something worse than when Naruto's blank eyes that held no recognition when they had encountered each other the week before.
Naruto's face was scrunched in pain.
No sound was issued from Naruto's mouth, even as he bared his teeth in retaliation to whatever was making him clutch his head like that. When Naruto bared his teeth, Sasuke saw that his canines had somehow elongated into fangs; sharp, pointed fangs.
With his Sharingan, Sasuke could also see Naruto's whiskers thicken. No longer were they cute lines on his face that accented Naruto's individuality, but the feral markings of the beast he held within.
Instantly, Sasuke turned around to face the fucking bastard.
He felt his Sharingan swirl in his anger and he indulged in his urge to hurt the bastard in front of him.
Sasuke snarled as he tilted his foot behind him, then he kicked forward with considerate strength and felt momentary satisfaction when he felt his foot come into sharp contact with the bastard's face.
The force of the kick almost sent the bastard flying, but Sasuke wouldn't let his prey escape.
Before the body could leave the little crater the earlier impact had created, Sasuke pierced it with his katana, effectively pinning it back down to the ground.
Red blood stained his blade as the bastard's body slid down from the base of the hilt that had stopped it from leaving the crater back down to ground; where he belonged.
Sasuke knew that he would need his katana if he wanted to fend off Naruto. He needed it last time they fought and now he was going to face a more feral Naruto so he would need to be able to properly defend himself; their battle in that damned Valley had taught him that.
He took his time as he slid his katana out of the bleeding body beneath him. IT had long since lost consciousness, but Sasuke's sadistic side would not leave things at that.
He quickly summoned two kunai and a few throwing stars. With accurate precision, he threw the stars so the bastard's clothes were pinned to the ground.
Sasuke took the kunai in his hand and walked over to the bastard's right side. He stomped hard on the bastard's hand—the hand that DARED touch SASUKE'S Naruto—and mercilessly pushed the kunai through the hand; pinning it to the ground. He repeated the process with the bastard's left hand too.
Sasuke whirled around once more face Naruto.
Naruto was no longer clutching his head in pain nor was he kneeling. Naruto was once again crouching, but not the same as before.
Before, Naruto was crouching as a result of landing on the branch and merely held the position until the fucking bastard told him to 'Engage'. Now, Naruto was crouching on all fours in a more animalistic pose.
Before, the crouch meant that Naruto was resting a little after an attack. Now, the crouch meant he was preparing for one.
Sasuke suddenly realized that a nonexistent breeze he had not noticed had practically turned into a storm.
The leaves in the trees rustled violently until they fell off and flew in area towards Naruto. It was as if there was a little tornado and Naruto was in the eye of the storm!
The leaves that flew towards him would swirl around the crouching blonde heading towards the sky above him.
The wind started to screech around him. It was more high pitched and eerie than regular stormy winds; this wind had been created from the Demon Fox's chakra and filled the surrounding area with its malice.
The wind seemed to have two octaves assaulting Sasuke's ears at the same time: one underlying continuous howl and a higher pitched scream that passed through the trees.
Through it all, Naruto had kept his eyes closed. His face was no longer contorted in pain and had assumed a more dangerous, feral version of his previous emotionless state.
It was as if the swirling masses of chakra seeming out of his body and swirling around him in his personal typhoon was calming the demon inside of him.
During the time Sasuke had taken to pin the fucking bastard to the ground, Naruto's now calm face had grown more savage. His mouth was framing his fangs with thick black lines that had overtaken his lips and his hair was standing on end.
Without any perceivable warning, Naruto opened his eyes.
They were the eyes of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon.
Naruto's eyes were framed with the same thick back lines as his mouth, but made the structure resemble the fox. His previously blue eyes were now a red deeper than blood. And his pupils were now slits.
When Sasuke had seen his eyes during their encounter a week ago when they had fought each other, Naruto's eyes had remained blank and did not recognize Sasuke.
Now Naruto's eyes were focused on him and Sasuke could tell that Naruto now recognized him as an enemy that needed to be eliminated.
As soon as their eyes met, Sasuke felt all of his senses being attacked.
He saw red chakra creating a transparent film around the crouching figure, though no tail like in that damned valley. He saw the branches in the area sway due to the force of the wind. He saw the figure in the branches glaring at him. But he did not see his friend; he saw the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. He saw the village's Ultimate Weapon.
He could smell the underlying scents of the forest as it whipped around him because of the wind. He could smell the blood that remained on his katana. Sasuke could smell the fear the surrounded him.
He could hear the wind as it shrieked around him. It pulsated higher pitches in accordance to the chakra emanating from the jinchuuriki. He heard the branches creak around him as the wind forced them to bend to its will. He could hear haggard gasping from himself.
He could taste the chakra in the area. He could taste how bitter it was. It was not sour, it was not blended with any other taste. It was pure bitter. He could also taste the desire to empty his stomach.
He felt the demonic aura. He felt the chakra seeping out of Naruto merge with the wind and sting his skin. He felt how the air around him became so cold that it burned his lungs whenever he took a breath. He felt the jinchuuriki's intention to kill him.
Sasuke forced himself to remain calm as his senses were attacked. He forced himself to think of possible ways to not only defend himself but to also attack.
He forced himself to find a way to get his love back.
Sasuke no longer had the curse seal. He briefly wondered if he would be able to survive fighting Naruto because the last time Sasuke had fought him while he was under the Kyuubi's influence, he had depended on it heavily.
No. Sasuke internally shook his head. Orochimaru had only deluded Sasuke into believing that he was more powerful with the seal. All it did was centralize Sasuke's chakra and power. He had spent much time perfecting his techniques and power so he was more powerful now that he ever was with it.
He looked back at Naruto with a new confidence, but apparently that was not the right thing to do to the current Naruto.
When Sasuke gave Naruto the confident look, Naruto growled at him.
The growl was not like anything he had ever heard from Naruto before. It came from the back of his throat, telling Sasuke that he wanted to kill him. It was an animal's growl.
After Naruto unleashed the growl, a tail made of transparent, bubbling, red chakra started to form.
It was just like what had happened in that damned valley, except much different.
This time Sasuke was bringing Naruto back.
The tail had fully formed and was swishing lazily from side to side behind Naruto. Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to attack.
Well, if Naruto was waiting for an attack then Sasuke would attack, but not in the way Naruto would expect.
Sasuke felt his Sharingan spin as he cast a genjutsu on Naruto.
He poured a lot of chakra into the genjutsu, he wanted—needed—Naruto to calm down long enough so he could reverse the mind control jutsu over Naruto. He, Kakashi, and Tsunade had decided to reverse the order of the jutsu completely. They were almost positive that it would work; and if not, they would rely on Plan B: force the fucking bastard or the fucking elders to reverse it.
Calming Naruto down to the point where they could safely reverse the jutsu was going to be a problem, though. Kakashi had suggested that if Naruto went into attack mode to use the jutsu for his calmed state of mind before reversing it. Sasuke was against the idea.
He would not be put on the same level as the bastard.
So Sasuke decided to place Naruto under a genjutsu long enough for Sasuke to approach him to undue to jutsu.
He was not expecting to have to face this Naruto, so he poured more chakra into the genjutsu than necessary; unsure of how long it could hold the jinchuuriki.
His genjutsu would make Naruto believe that he wasn't there anymore. He replaced himself with the bastard because—as much as he abhorred it—the bastard was the one who was controlling Naruto and the bastard had set the jutsu so that Naruto would not attack him or the rest of the fucking ANBU squad.
He also made the rest of that fucking ANBU squad be incorporated in the genjutsu. He had the bastard tell Naruto that it was a training session and that it was over.
While Naruto would be distracted by the genjutsu bastard, Sasuke would hurry over to Naruto and undo the mind control jutsu.
Sasuke had barely started to move forward—he had made it up the tree closest to him with the intention of making his way to Naruto's branch—when the growling renewed itself.
Naruto's demonic eyes refocused on Sasuke.
He broke the genjutsu!
Sasuke did not have time for anything other than that thought because all of a sudden, he was hit by what felt like a massive cannon of pure chakra.
His body was pushed violently all the way through the trunk of the tree he had landed on and landed on a branch of another tree he had slammed into.
His stomach had taken the majority of the chakra cannon blast and he could still feel the remaining effects of having been in contact with the evil chakra.
It burned him and stung him. Every sting seemed to last for hours within the second. The burning was relentless and only served to accentuate the stinging. It hurt.
Sasuke pushed himself up and forced himself to ignore the continuous pain. His body would have to wait; it was not as important as saving Naruto.
Through the now open space created by Naruto's attack making the tree Sasuke blasted through, Sasuke could see Naruto still crouching on the branch; he hadn't moved.
Sasuke recognized that genjutsu would not work, and he was running out of chakra. He decided to go for taijutsu and use his remaining chakra for little Chidori blasts, like the one he had used to momentarily stun Naruto during their fight a week ago.
Sasuke unsheathed his katana. He didn't want to hurt Naruto, but the burning stinging in his stomach proved that touching the chakra that surrounded Naruto was too dangerous.
Sasuke moved forward with tremendous speed that would rival that of Lee so many years ago when he had fought Gaara during the Chuunin exams.
Suddenly, Naruto pounced.
With his Sharingan, he could barely—barely—follow Naruto's movements. If he didn't have his Sharingan, then he was sure that he would not have been able to see Naruto at all.
A blur of red appeared in front of him and materialized as Naruto's clawed hands. His now sharpened nails had cut through the traditional ANBU gloves he wore.
Even though Sasuke could see it coming, his body could not react in time.
He managed to slightly turn his head before he felt the claw make contact with his left bicep.
He was thrown to another tree and even though he had twisted his body so that he would land on the tree horizontally with his chakra, his legs still felt as if he had been slammed into this one too.
He ignored the pain in his legs and the new burning stinging in his left arm and jumped off the tree towards Naruto.
He swung at Naruto with his katana.
Naruto defended himself with his arm brace, but Sasuke had used the momentum of his jump to add to his strength as well as coating his blade with a small film of electricity so with effort, it sliced through the brace.
He saw the blade make contact with Naruto's skin as he completed his swing and returned his katana to a defensive position.
The cut instantly healed itself with such speed that there was no time for blood to pour out.
Naruto then used his other arm to claw at his sword.
Sasuke was inwardly surprised that Naruto's nails had created the same sparks as a kunai would when they slid against his katana, adding a metallic screech to the sounds of the shrieking wind.
Sasuke spared his blade a fleeting glance. His sharingan allowed him to see every detail within the second so his attention was quickly back on the red blur that was Naruto.
He saw that Naruto's clawed nails had left a scratch on his katana.
The red blur moved again. It was jumping to another tree.
When it landed, Sasuke saw Naruto's demonic eyes flare at him.
Suddenly, Sasuke saw Naruto swing at him once more with his arm and saw that the film of red chakra surrounding his arm had lengthened into a large, bubbling extended arm of vile chakra.
He jumped over the chakra arm to dodge it and made his way closer to Naruto.
But before he could land on the same branch as Naruto, his chakra tail swung and slammed him to the ground.
It was hard to get up. Sasuke was tired, sore, stinging and hurt, but he had to get up. He had to keep fighting. He had to get Naruto back.
Naruto landed in front of him. They were a good 12 meters away from each other, but Sasuke could feel the chakra radiating from the jinchuuriki. It was the chakra rather than the wind that stung him, and made his injuries throb even worse with the close proximity.
Their eyes locked. Sasuke took the chance to try something he hadn't considered yet.
He decided to contact Kyuubi directly within Naruto's mind.
Sharingan spinning, Sasuke focused on Naruto's own red eyes and proceeded to dive into his mind.
Sasuke was not aware of closing his eyes, like the last time he had used the Sharingan to contact the Kyuubi, but when he opened them he was inside the chambers of Naruto's mind.
The first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. He had grown used to attempting to hear over the shrieking of the wind outside so the sudden change was alarming.
He also noticed how dark it was. The area his physical body was in may have been shrouded in shadows, but sunlight found its way through the leaves. Where he was now mentally was almost completely pitch black if not for the dim yellow-tinged lights he could not place.
There was also about 7 or so inches of water surrounding his ankles. The water was cold, but not freezing. It was easy to ignore but impossible to forget, especially as he could feel ripples forming from his body with his pulse.
"Ku…ma…wha…..s…go….n?"
NARUTO!
Sasuke could barely hear the words echoing in the dark chambers, but there was no mistaking whose voice it was.
Naruto!
Sasuke ran forward with a burst of speed. He needed to confirm what he was hoping was the truth.
Oh Kami, it HAD to be the truth! It HAD to really be Naruto he heard!
He ran and ran, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Blood thundered in his ears so he was oblivious to how much noise he was making as he splashed his way towards the direction he knew Kyuubi's cage was.
"Dammit, Kurama! Stop ignoring me and tell me what the fuck is going on!"
Sasuke nearly tripped when he heard his love's voice once more. At the moment, he was in pure bliss. He almost forgot all the pain he was currently in, all the pain he had accumulated after his first encounter with Naruto. He was lost in Naruto's voice. It sounded exactly as he remembered it, but even more so since he was listening to the real thing, of that he had no doubt.
He stumbled a bit as he picked up his pace so he could get to the Kyuubi's cage faster and finally—finally—see his Naruto.
He thundered through the chambers for a few precious minutes before he skid to a complete stop.
He finally saw him. He could finally see him!
"Naruto." He whispered in a complete daze. A part of him could not believe what he was seeing. Yet there the dobe was.
Naruto was exactly the same as Sasuke's memory from a few years ago after the two had last seen each other before Sasuke decided to return.
He was even wearing his orange jumpsuit!
The part of Sasuke's mind that could not believe that it was really Naruto in front of him pointed out that Naruto seemed no older than 16 when Sasuke's physical body had been fighting an 18 year old Naruto.
But that part of his mind was overwhelmingly overshadowed by Sasuke's sheer relief and bliss.
"Naruto." He whispered once again, more to confirm it to himself.
The dobe had not seemed to notice another presence observing him; he was too busy glaring at the Kyuubi's cage.
"KURAMA! TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! WHY DID YOU CLOSE THE CAGE?" Naruto shouted to the cage in front of him, completely oblivious to the Uchiha walking closer behind him.
"Naruto." Sasuke said, a little louder this time.
"AND WHY DID THE HEADACHES START AGAIN? I THOUGHT THOSE WERE OVER WITH! DAMMIT, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!" Naruto shouted in ever increasing volumes.
"Naruto!" Sasuke said in a dobe-worthy volume.
"Wha—" Naruto immediately turned around to see what in the world could have been calling his name. Confusion and curiosity was evident within those ever reflective eyes of his.
His beautiful, azure, captivating, endless, shining eyes. His AWARE eyes.
Sasuke could no longer restrain himself. Screw Uchiha prestige and limitations.
Sasuke pulled the confused blonde into a crushing hug, pulling the other as close as physically possible while still fully clothed.
He could have been lifting the dobe off the ground for all he was aware of. He wasn't thinking; his mind was filled with unrivaled happiness.
He was finally holding his love. He had finally found his love. He could finally bring his love back.
"Naruto, I finally found you." Sasuke whispered as he buried his face in the other's impossibly blond and soft hair.
"Sa-Sasuke?" Naruto whispered back, utter confusion laced in every syllable.
Naruto tried to push away from the hug after a few moments, probably because he realized just exactly who was holding him, but Sasuke only held on all the more tighter.
"No." Sasuke said in an absolute tone.
"Sasuke, what the hell?" Naruto shouted as he renewed his struggles, "What are you doing?"
Sasuke's response was to squeeze his dobe even tighter.
Naruto yelped with the sudden and unexpected slight pain.
As soon as the sound escaped the blonde's lips, two things happened: Sasuke lessened his grip a little and a growl could be heard from Kyuubi's cage.
At the growl, Naruto froze a little. Sasuke's grip slackened a little in surprise to both the growl and reaction, which Naruto used to free himself.
"KURAMA!" He shouted in a somewhat accusing tone as he neared the cage.
Suddenly, the Kyuubi's cage opened and a claw reached out and snatched Naruto and withdrew back into the shadows of the cage before Sasuke could react.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted as he ran to the cage. He just got his love back! He would NOT lose him again!
"Sasuke? Is it really you?" Naruto's voice asked from within the shadows.
His voice was relatively calm albeit a little stressed and curious. Sasuke could also detect a hint of frustration underlying in Naruto's voice.
Kami, how much he had missed his voice.
"Yes it's me! Where are you? Is the demon hurting you?" Sasuke replied frantically. How the hell was Naruto staying calm?
Sasuke could hear the demon growl again. Sasuke pressed himself against the bars in a renewed struggle to save his love from the Kyuubi.
"Kurama isn't a demon!" Naruto's heated voice shouted from within the shadows, "Well, technically he is, but that doesn't give you the right to judge him!" His voice had trailed a little in the middle but ended with as much ferocity as when he defended the Kyuubi.
"Who the hell is 'Kurama'? Dammit, Naruto! The Kyuubi just snatched you into the cage and you are fucking defending someone?" Sasuke shouted, desperately searching the shadows for his stolen love.
"Kurama is Kyuubi's name you damn teme!" Naruto's disembodied voice shouted back.
"What?" Sasuke shouted in response. He didn't have time to argue with Naruto! Naruto was in the fucking cage with the demon fox!
Sasuke could hear a sigh, then, "Hey, put me down you big fuzzball."
Fuzzball? Why the hell was Naruto speaking so calmly to the Kyuubi?
Sasuke could hear a growl in response, but a calmer one than the one that had just been threatening him.
"If you aren't going to put me down, then tell me what the fuck is going on!" Naruto's voice demanded.
After a few moments, Sasuke heard Naruto speak once again.
"Damn fox. Are you really THAT determined to not tell me what's going on?"
Silence followed. Sasuke was practically trying to force his entire body through the bars and stumbled when they suddenly opened.
Naruto came walking towards him with a slight frown of frustration on his face.
Sasuke made to embrace him once more when Naruto sidestepped him and turned around to face the Uchiha with his arms crossed to make an "X" in front of him as if warding off the Uchiha.
"Hold it, Sasuke! Tell me what the hell is going on! Why are you here? What is going on out there? And why the HELL are you so touchy feely?" Naruto shouted, taking his frustration out on Sasuke.
Sasuke was caught off guard by the questions, "You don't know?" he asked lamely.
Naruto grave a huff of frustration and started to pace, creating little plashes in the water with every step.
"NO, I DON'T know, teme! I have no fucking idea! Last thing I remember of the world out there is the village elders telling me that they were going to put me into a trance so I can learn to 'control' Kurama here! But we've been tight and everything for ages now yet I can't wake up! And now I have this mother of a headache and Kurama has cut himself off from me and he WON'T TELL ME WHY," Naruto shouted the last part towards the silent cage, "even though I had THOUGHT that the headaches had stopped! But the damn fox won't tell me anything and NOW I have YOU randomly popping up in my head freaking hugging me like you didn't try to kill me all those times! So now, teme, TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!"
Naruto ended his little speech now facing Sasuke and panting a little with a determined and extremely frustrated expression on his face that told Sasuke that Naruto would not settle for anything but the truth.
Sasuke sighed and sat down, despite the cold water, and motioned for Naruto to come closer and do the same.
He wanted Naruto to be further away from the Kyuubi despite Naruto telling them that the two were now "tight" with each other. He also wanted Naruto to calm down a little and knew he was prone to over-exaggerating his reactions while he was standing. Hell, he had problems even while sitting, but he was harder to control while standing.
With an indignant huff and an adorable pout, in Sasuke's biased opinion, Naruto obliged the silent demand.
When Naruto had sat down in the cold water across from Sasuke, Sasuke had made him promise that he wouldn't interrupt while Sasuke explained.
"Whatever, teme, just tell me!" Naruto said in a tone that clearly told Sasuke how much Naruto needed to understand.
"You are currently under a mind control jutsu and have been for the past two years." Sasuke started.
"WHAT?" Naruto shouted. He almost fell backwards with the shock he had just received.
Sasuke gave him his old "shut up, I'm not done talking" glare and continued.
"The elders created it to subdue you and the Kyuubi—"
"Kurama." Naruto cut in.
His interruption was met by two different growls. One from Sasuke for interrupting again and one from inside the cage which meaning only Naruto could decipher.
"Sorry, 'rama. Didn't know you were such a sentimental bitch." Naruto said to the general direction of the cage.
Another growl was the reply.
"Well fuck you! You haven't been telling me shit so in my book that makes you a bitch!" Naruto declared as he once again faced Sasuke and gave him his undivided attention.
"Kyuubi then." Naruto then confirmed which name Kyuubi wanted to be called by the Uchiha.
Sasuke gave a warning nod to Naruto, silently conveying the message to not interrupt again which Naruto immediately understood.
"The elders discovered how to control your mind and make you fight for their needs. They put you under the command of that bastard replacement of mine who makes you go on the reserve missions. You've been under his control for the past two years."
"Wh-what does Sai make me do?" Naruto asked in a small voice.
Sasuke knew that Naruto was talking about which missions. He also knew that Naruto had no desire to become an ANBU member because of the missions they were assigned from a conversation the two had years ago.
Sasuke reasoned that they would be considered the strongest of ninja if they were ANBU Black Ops. Naruto countered that they would be nameless masks so they themselves would not get the recognition, and that he was going to be Hokage someday so he would already be considered the strongest. Sasuke then argued that they would have the chance to do good as ANBU, but Naruto argued back that they would have to kill others in order to achieve their goal.
Naruto had absolutely refused to kill others and had always been adamant about it.
Sasuke knew that confirming that Naruto had indeed killed people would be a lot for the blonde to take in. He didn't want to tell him anything more than necessary, and he definitely would not tell Naruto how that fucking bastard had taken advantage of him.
Not yet. Not when he was still taking everything in.
"You are forced to go on the special reserve missions with that bastard replacement's ANBU Squad." Sasuke told the other in a low tone.
Naruto's horrified expression told Sasuke that he understood.
"Oh Kami…" he whispered in an undertone.
Sasuke waited until Naruto calmed down a little.
"And….and why are you here?" Naruto asked quietly with his head in his hands. His eyes were hidden from Sasuke but the desperate need for more information was still there.
"I'm coming back to Konoha." Sasuke said.
Naruto gasped and his head immediately shot up to look at Sasuke with hope and confusion in his eyes.
"Really?" he choked out with unshed tears in his eyes.
"Hn." Sasuke nodded his conferment, "I saw you a week ago and was going to tell you, but you didn't recognize me and attacked."
Naruto's hopeful expression morphed into confusion and the same horror of understanding that what Sasuke said was true.
Sasuke felt the urge to comfort his blonde, but decided against it as if would only confuse him even more.
"You don't recognize anybody when you're being controlled. You attack anybody who touches you or comes within 10 meters of you. You also attack on command." Sasuke finished with a sneer aimed at the bastard.
Naruto gasped at the new information and looked up at Sasuke with a silent plea for more information.
"You were deployed with the bastard replacement's squad in order to apprehend me, but it's really a trap to get you back to us. While I was fighting that bastard, you took out Sakura and Kakashi."
"I—I what?" Naruto moaned as he placed his head back in his hands. The terror of what he did was evident in his voice, as was the trembling in it.
Sasuke's resolve to not confuse his love by comforting him was dwindling fast; before he could do anything, though, a tail whipped out of the opened cage.
Sasuke expected Kyuubi to grab his love and pull him back into the cage like before and made to grab Naruto before that could happen.
The tail wrapped around Naruto, but instead of pulling him back into the cage, it enveloped Naruto into a warm, comforting embrace of sorts. Kyuubi's tail was embracing Naruto's torso while allowing Naruto's head to pop out of the fluffy hug. Naruto's expression was troubled by all the information and comforted by the hug he was in.
Sasuke knew that Naruto needed to hear all the information quickly so he continued.
"Currently, you and I are in battle. I know the way to reverse the mind control jutsu you are under, but I need to physically break it. But that's proving to be a problem because you are using Kyuubi's chakra." He said in an even tone.
Naruto's eyes shot open with shock.
"Kurama, is that true?" he asked, turning his head to face the opened cage behind him.
Sasuke heard a growl but couldn't understand it. Apparently Naruto did, though.
"WHAT? So THAT'S the reason for the headaches? Is that why you shut yourself in the cage?" Naruto asked, his voice cracking a little in his momentary hysteria.
The Kyuubi growled once more as conferment.
"Calm down, dobe." Sasuke said in a firm tone.
As he predicted and hoped, Naruto's head snapped around to face him.
"Don't call me that, teme!" Naruto shouted. Kyuubi's tail tightened around Naruto, but Sasuke paid it no mind. Naruto's voice had stopped trembling and had become clear, showing that Naruto had indeed calmed down a little.
Sasuke could feel his chakra draining and knew that despite his wishes, he would have to leave Naruto's mind soon.
"Listen, right now I'm trying to undo the jutsu, but the chakra cloak surrounding you won't allow me to without severely burning myself. Is there any way you or Kyuubi can get rid of the cloak?" Sasuke asked with a hint of urgency in his voice.
Naruto looked downcast for a moment before he turned to Kyuubi who was still shrouded in shadows.
"Kurama?" Naruto asked.
Silence followed; Naruto looked downwards sadly and Sasuke inwardly cursed. His chakra was draining so if he didn't get an answer soon he was not sure how he could undo the jutsu.
"Uchiha," Kyuubi's disembodied, deep and raspy voice growled. Naruto jumped a little at Kyuubi speaking to Sasuke and Sasuke inwardly tensed, though outwardly he merely directed his gaze to the shadows.
"I'll be able to cut off my chakra for an undetermined amount of time, but I am unable to reverse the jutsu. Naruto's body will still be in his 'attack mode' as they call it."
"Why can't you undo the jutsu?" Sasuke demanded. He had been under the impression that Kyuubi could undo the jutsu if he wanted to but allowed it because he was able to kill more people because of it.
"Because it does not physically harm Naruto." Kyuubi replied harshly.
Sasuke sighed. He had been subconsciously hoping that Kyuubi could undo the jutsu, but understood that he couldn't.
He looked at Naruto, who was still facing the shadows. He memorized every detail of his Naruto, making his resolve to save him, so bring him back to Sasuke.
"Dobe," Naruto's head whipped around to glare at Sasuke, "I'm going back now. But I promise that I will bring you back."
"You better, teme." Naruto said with a smile.
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he saw Naruto clutching his head again.
The chakra cloak was dissipating. The screaming wind was dying down and Sasuke's injuries—still stinging—hurt less now that the burning chakra was leaving.
"Naruto…" Sasuke whispered, maybe the Kyuubi did undo the jutsu.
Naruto's eyes suddenly opened; they were the same blank orbs as the first time they had when they had first fought.
Sasuke decided to take the initiative and take the offense so he could undo the mind control jutsu.
Sasuke lunged forward, aiming to hold Naruto by the shoulder so he could pin him to the ground so he could reverse the jutsu.
But when he started forward, Naruto snapped his head up to face Sasuke with that blank expression and started to defend.
When Sasuke reached his arm forwards, Naruto grabbed it and swung his leg and kicked Sasuke's side.
Sasuke wrapped his hands around the arm Naruto grabbed him with and used the momentum from Naruto's bruising kick to swing his body around to wrap his legs around Naruto's torso so he could pin Naruto to the ground so his hands would be free for the necessary hand signals.
When Sasuke's legs touched Naruto's torso, Naruto's eyes widened a little before returning to their normal dead expression.
Immediately afterwards, before Sasuke's legs could wrap around him, Naruto twisted his body and pulled Sasuke along with it so Sasuke's body slammed into a tree they were next to.
Sasuke groaned as the impact aggravated his wounds.
Naruto appeared in front of him and swung, aiming for his head.
Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and sent a shock of Chidori through his system.
He noticed how Naruto's eyes once again widened a little before they shut in a shocked pain.
Sasuke pulled Naruto forwards and turned him around so Sasuke was pinning Naruto between himself and the tree.
He felt Naruto gasp a little. Maybe it was like before.
He lessened his grip on Naruto so he could wrap his arms around him like before.
As soon as Sasuke stopped pressing him against the tree, Naruto pressed his upper body against him.
Sasuke took it as a sign that Naruto was becoming aware and started to wrap his arms around his love.
Before Sasuke could, Naruto's legs shot up and pushed against the tree.
Sasuke was pushed to the ground but Naruto flipped over him and landed by his head.
Sasuke rolled over to the side and swung his feet under Naruto and tripped him.
When Naruto hit the ground, Sasuke crawled over him, sitting on his torso and extending his calves behind him to pin his forearms and pinned Naruto's shoulders with his hands.
Naruto openly gasped, his eyes widening and gaining the sparkle only the real Naruto could have in his eyes.
"Naruto." Sasuke whispered.
All the pure bliss he felt earlier when he saw the real Naruto earlier came rushing back when he looked into those eyes.
Sasuke leaned down and gave Naruto a kiss.
He felt Naruto stiffen underneath him, but he didn't care. He was kissing Naruto. He was finally kissing his love.
He pulled away and placed a couple more small pecks on the lips, whispering Naruto's name after each peck.
"Sasuke?"
Sasuke's eyes widened; that was his voice. That was NARUTO's voice.
"Naruto." Sasuke said, his voice with evident relief in it.
"I love you." Sasuke told his dobe.
Then he made the necessary hand seals and placed his hand to Naruto's forehead.
Naruto's eyes widened when Sasuke's forehead, his face contorted in pain as he issued a silent scream.
Sasuke climbed off of Naruto and pulled Naruto close to him, trying to restrain his movements because Naruto had started to writhe in pain.
Naruto stopped writhing after a little while and started to breathe heavily, as if he could not intake any oxygen and desperately needed to.
When Naruto's breathing started to even out, Sasuke placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders and pulled him away from his chest so Sasuke could look into his eyes.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, needing to know if he had succeeded in reversing the jutsu.
Naruto was still breathing heavily. He then looked up to meet Sasuke's eyes.
They were his eyes. They were Naruto's fully aware, emotional, expressive, endless, azure, beautiful eyes.
"Sasuke." He weakly whispered.
It was him. It was really Naruto. This was not the blank Naruto he had met in the last week. Not the ANBU Black Op that had fought Sakura and Kakashi. Not the jinchuuriki who had inflicted the wounds on him. Naruto. This was Naruto.
Then Naruto collapsed in his arms. His breath was finally even, he looked exhausted but peaceful; as if he was finally sleeping after not being able to in a long while.
"Naruto? NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled desperately.
"Calm down," Sakura's voice called from a couple of trees away.
Sasuke pulled Naruto's limp body closer to his body as if to protect it. He turned his head to look in the direction of Sakura's voice.
She was sitting by that fucking bastard's unconscious body, Kakashi was with her and she was giving him medical aid.
"It worked, right?" Kakashi asked, turning to face Sasuke.
"I think so, it was him, but—" Sasuke gestured his head towards the limp body he was clutching.
"Then he is probably just recovering." Kakashi reasoned with a calming tone.
"Bring him over here." Sakura ordered.
Sasuke nodded and picked Naruto up, carrying him over to the others bridal style.
While he walked, he pulled Naruto close to him, in pure euphoria that he had saved Naruto.
Sasuke buried his face in Naruto's hair, breathing in his scent.
"I brought you back, love. I brought you back." Sasuke said as he gave Naruto's forehead a kiss.
And that was the chapter!
Wow that was hard to write. I really wanted to update before Saturday, but by the end of the Friday night, even though I had started on Wednesday, I had only reached when Sasuke went into Naruto's mind.
This chapter was the hardest to write so far, and I spent the most time preparing/prepping/writing on this one. In order to prepare, I watched the episodes when Naruto went into the second stage of transformations (episodes 40/41). And while writing, I was listening to rock about monsters like Skillet's Monster, Three Days Grace's Animal, Linkin Park's Crawling. You know, the good shit.
That is until last night. I was watching scary movies with some friends and I was all "this isn't scary." And when I got back to my room to write I was inwardly comparing the movie I was watching with the last movie that gave me nightmares (Paranormal Activity—no one told me that shit isn't real when I was watching it) which turned out to be a REALLY bad idea. My head was suddenly full of all that crazy shit that poltergeist did in the movie and freaked myself out. Plus it was all dark and I couldn't see anything past my laptop light with my roommate intermediately shifting/making noises and freaking me out more. So to calm myself down I had to listen to Disney.
Anyway, hopefully the chapter was good.
Thanks so much to those who alert/favorite and thank you thank you Thank You to those who review. You guys are my favorite people and those who freeload should look up to you and your sheer awesomeness.