Sell Out

Part I: Chapter XII


"Away you go to war,
Lost in a foreign land.
Cast out wicked ways-
My love, take a stand.

...

Konoha Western Barracks

"Hello Kiba."

He doesn't return the greeting but regardless she took her seat in the bustling cafeteria. There had been an influx of fresh farmed spinach and everyone was ecstatic at the menu addition of the green, leafy vegetable. Kiba looks none too pleased, pushing the broth around his bowl admissibly.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. It wasn't a good time," she apologises again. It even sounded pathetic to her.

He runs a hand through his brown, shaggy hair. "I haven't been on leave in 6 months... shouldn't it always be a good time?"

He is piercing clairvoyance. "You're letters have been slower. In fact I haven't gotten one in three months. Only so much of that was the post."

She found his hand without resistance but it is not as warm as she remembered.

"I've been really swamped at the hospital," she explains. He seemed unimpressed until emotional appeal, "I missed you..."

"Yeah..." He accepts her, taking up a spoon with the other hand and digging in. By the end of lunch he was roaring with laughter and beaming ear to ear.

When she left she had to sprint past Akamaru patrolling outside. The dog smelt her guilt, barking fiercely.

...

I know you must leave,
But darling I beg you-
Come home someday, please."

-Old Konoha folk song

...

Earlier that morning

Sasuke's was addictively warm. Since Kiba and Akamaru left she had remained in Sasuke's arms, letting his steady presence calm her. Truthfully though her heart hadn't stopped pounding but for an entirely separate reason from fear. On her back he traced intricacy, making pleasurable jolts rack her body until slowly she looked into his eyes. Chest to chest and nose to nose she was mere inches from his lips. He boldly cupped the back of her head with the clear intention of closing that miniscule distance.

However, he didn't move and it took her a moment to realise he was waiting on her. He revoked all power, letting her decide what she wanted. It felt like a life sentence when she leaned in. Without thought and bar consequence she kissed him.

He took her gentle uncertainty with unwavering purpose. She became consumed as he deepened the kiss and possessively pressed her into the bed. It was completely different from Kiba whose kisses she avoided. She craved Sasuke's weight above her, his hard kisses and skilled touch.

That morning she pretended they were the only two people in the world and nothing else mattered.

...

Western Barracks

"You tell him to go!"

Nobody here wants you.

"Why me?!"

Why fight for them?

"He's your future wife's best-friend! That's why!"

They want you dead.

Naruto tries to tune out the demon in his ear but mostly the dark words of his 'comrades'. He had been ordered to the barracks, making the other soldiers uneasy. Naruto had gotten used to their scathing looks and comments; he just never quiet understood how they thought he couldn't hear them.

"Fine!"

Kiba blurs his peripheral. Kiba probably hated him more than anyone else in the village and feared him just the same. What at least made Naruto partly admire Kiba was that he never showed any of this when they spoke. He would not be scared, never clout by a complex rage relating to the demon fox but mostly Naruto's close relationship with Sakura.

"We've taken a vote," Kiba said evenly. "You can do your service outside."

Kill him!

Naruto holds his head in agony, fiercely denying the demon fox. "I have orders to wait in the barracks," he half growled. His head felt bloated, pressure unbearable.

"Then wait outside. It's still the barracks," Kiba counters. "If not... well you know what."

Killthemallkillthemallkillth emallkillthemallkillthemall

It is incessant, scratched into the back of his head, burned into his soul. The demon foxes poisonous being, repeating from day one: Killthemallkillthemallkillth emallkillthemallkillthemall

"Oi Naruto!"

He is losing control. Killthemallkillthemallkillth emallkillthemallkillthemall

Naruto snarls, "Shutup!Shutup!Shutup!"

His outburst causes comrades to jump back, everyone drawing weapons. If they attacked... the demon fox would definitely retaliate. Naruto stumbles outside to the cold, collapsing against a wall. He steadied his breathing thinking Sasuke would never tell me to leave. Sakura would kick anyone's ass who tried to make me. Finally he thought of Iruka-Sensei, away on some mission that was trying to keep peace. Something kind, something he was always trying desperately to be.

His small handful of important people grounded him. The fox returned to murmuring bloodlust.

...

Sakura's house

"We shouldn't..."

Sakura shies away from Sasuke, only to moan when he kisses her exposed neck. She squeezes her eyes shut, guilt picking at her stomach and making her feel sick. She had seen Kiba and after a completely selfish morning of pure instinct she could no longer entertain the idea that this was right. What she is doing with Sasuke is wrong. She was engaged. She was cheating.

But she couldn't stop...

"I'm so confused," she breathes, pressing against Sasuke and claiming his lips. He massages his tongue against hers, making her rub her thighs together in shame. He was an incredible kisser and it was terrifying to realise that didn't completely satisfy her.

"Do you like me?" she murmurs against his lips. She is searching for reassurance, some hapless justification. Not sure it would change anything.

It was something he could no longer ignore. "I'm leaving for Oto."

She found herself turning away. That's not what I asked, her silent retort. His blunt reply had her feeling a hot anger, the delusional betrayal of a mirage.

"Come on," he coaxes, kissing the uncovered skin of her back. He tugs at her left shirt sleeve to give her shoulder the same treatment. "It's not like you didn't know it was coming."

It is difficult to form a coherent reply when he is doing that. Her anger felt foolish, Sasuke would become nothing but a passing memory. His lap is accommodating, arms protective. She let herself get wrapped up in him once more.

That is until he spoke seriously between kisses, "You should break it off with Kiba."

Again, she was feeling a tranquil fury that only intensified when he continued. "You obviously don't love him."

What right did he have to comment with such moral superiority? His suggestion was cold and without an ounce of feeling. She retorted bitterly, "What would you know?"

"I know you don't love him enough to be loyal," he said crassly and the damage detonated like a bomb. She needed to hold up the mirror.

"What about you?" she half-growled. "You have a girlfriend."

He was no different from her. He was cheating as well. All she had gotten out of him was the name 'Karin', everything else fiercely guarded. She found it mind-bending he could shred apart her love life without sharing his own. His jaw tensed irritably.

"Well?" she pushes.

"Well what?" he snaps back.

She'd had enough, pulling away from him. She gasps when he slipped his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers but most importantly keeping her with him. "I'm not good with this talking stuff... so give me a moment."

His earnest tone earns him enough time to gather everything together. "I want you to be happy and he doesn't make you happy. When I'm gone I want the picture of you in my head to be smiling."

Honesty isn't such a radical request, something she needed this entire time. Is she happy with Kiba? Was Sasuke an escape? She is still confused but hearing Sasuke speak so openly is giving her the courage to face herself.

"It's your relationship though and if you really do love him then what we have is only in the way," he adds. "You need to make a decision. But know I will respect whatever choice you make."

Sakura finds herself squeezing his hand just that little bit tighter.

...

Konoha Western Barracks

"You lying bastard!"

Kiba joins the jeering when the fight brakes out. Tatsuya and Matsuda had been at each others throat since wind country, brawl inevitable.

"You cheated!"

A lost game of cards would be a flimsy excuse to superiors; both men guaranteed punishment as Tatsuya buried his fist into Matsuda's jaw. In the midst of bets being called Kiba hears something disagreeable.

"Speaking of cheating. Your girl."

Kiba spun on the older soldier instantly, "My wife heard a rumour that the demon fox has been visiting your fiancée a lot lately."

"So?" Kiba's eyes narrow dangerously before returning to the fight. "He always does."

"At three in the morning?"

Kiba bit the inside of his cheek. It is a stress response and as of late the metallic taste of blood had become ever constant. He barely has a handle on his convulsing thoughts when everyone in the barrack tenses. A chill spread from his lower back, to his shoulders, with the ominous presence of some archaic, clawed hand ready to cut him to ribbons.

"No!"

Even with only a week's worth of training any ninja would be able to sense this vile chakra, heck villagers without chakra potential would feel it. The demon fox was bleeding out of its host and close to Konoha it was boarder line nightmare. Kiba ran to the window, expecting bubbling red, oozing chakra.

All he finds is Naruto craning his head around equally spooked. Something was frightening the demon fox. He faced back, ready to warn the others.

But there is nothing. The barracks are completely empty. Absent of people, void of sound. He stared down the stretch of vacant tables, his eyes straining into negative space. Whitewash became a drain, a painful glimmer.

"What the..."

He had to get back to Naruto. In doing so he turns directly into the horned face of a curse-seal demon.

...

Konoha Hospital, Surgery

The hospital steadily stacked patients, indiscriminate. Tonight she isn't just dealing with freshly injured soldiers but an overflow of civilians, innocent women and little children. Sakura tried to piece together the disjointed situation, the frantic dying whispers, the shrill screams, the begging prayers of her patients.

Oto. Breech. Fire. Attack.

She fiercely pours chakra into gaping wounds, knitting skin, setting bone. It seemed that for every patient she cleared, three more were rolled in to take their place. After stabilizing a four year old with third degree burns she moves toward the next batch that her superior is hovering over.

"Get her out!"

The bark of her superior drew her attention, thinking a family member had run into the operation theatre. Instead the woman is pointing at her. Shocked, Sakura stops, attention diverting to the critical patient her superior seems to be shielding. A dirty mess of brown hair peaked through bloody sheets...

"Kiba..."

Everything is dissolving around her, the chaos of surgery becoming a soaked canvas of blood darker than the clan markings that streaked her dying fiancées face. It is definitely him and she starts screaming. "Kiba!"

"Now," her superior roars. Sakura is grabbed and dragged. She is lead through the weeping wall, chocking on the acidic taste of bile when the surgery door closes on her. Tears pilled at her eyes and the helpless sobs of the people in the waiting room echo in the cavern of her mind. One of her loved ones is dying. A painfully familiar situation...

She didn't do anything for Ino.

Gritting her teeth Sakura banishes the misery threatening to take over. She controls her shaking hands and wiped her moist eyes with a steeled resolve.

She wouldn't be helpless with Kiba. She wasn't going to lose him.

"No!" she snarls, bursting back through the doors. In an instant she is on him, shoving another doctor fumbling to change a scalpel blade, "move."

She doesn't wait for approval, burying her hand into the fan of his chest to kick start cell reanimation. She catches a brief glimpse of her superior who simply gives a stern nod. Sakura will not be spared again, the painful result of her decision to return crystallizing with whatever outcome.

Sakura would try reviving him all night, until her fiancée became just another corpse to haunt her.

...

The West side of Konoha

There had been a breech, an infantry of Oto Soldiers running riot in the streets. It was a spectacular miscommunication on the barrier squad's part, blind sighted to the sensory types. Many had been lost under a thick veil of genjutsu and the rest to an explosion that set blocks of housing ablaze. The fire had been contained quickly and the remaining Oto dealt with swiftly but Naruto still circled the wreckage. Konoha hadn't been directly hit this badly in a while...

He has to find Sakura. He'd seen Kiba go down, done everything he could to get to him. In the end he'd stayed to hold the enemy off and left him to the medical corps. By the time Naruto got to the hospital though, Sakura was gone.

He finally spots a gentle pink, such a welcomed hue to the blazing flames and blood of the night.

"Sakura!"

He sprints toward her, jumping over the rubble of a general store and almost smacking into her. They became a shell shocked tangle; Naruto squeezing her so tight she can barely breathe. Sakura hardly reacts and he fears she has been like this for a while.

"How's Kiba?" he finally manages.

His stomach drops when she says the one thing he never wants to hear. "Let's go to the hill."

...

The hill

"How about the one next to Ino's?"

Sakura stared up at the stars numbly, rubbing her hands like she still had the latex gloves, preening her chakra like there was still a chance. She hadn't been able to save him. Everything felt so surreal. So unfair. Kiba...

"Sakura?"

The ritual of star choosing was something she was supposed to pass on to her children. How could that ever be possible now? Were there enough stars in the galaxy to account for all her fallen loved ones? Would she and Naruto run out of celestial entities?

"Do you think he would like that one?"

She was only half hearing Naruto. The words flashing through her mind weighting on her perception. Is death an institution? Am I committed?

"Sakura?"

This is war. It needs to end. No more friends. I have but one left.

"I was thinking I'm going to reserve one."

Sakura turned slowly to face Naruto her thought pattern shattered.

"See that one there," Naruto points to one of the biggest and brightest stars before smiling slightly "That's me."

There was a pause before Sakura slapped him across the face with so much force he veered to the side. Naruto let out a cry of surprise and barely reaches out for her hand when she went to hit him again. "Don't you DARE Naruto!"

He holds his swollen cheek, the pain throbbing.

"Don't you dare Naruto!" Her voice is shrill in the evening air. With her free hand she has a vice grip on his shoulder. Painfully. Desperately. "What are you thinking?!"

He catches his breathing, almost understanding with a quiet whisper. "I didn't mean that I was going to die soon…"

"Then what Naruto!" she hissed. "What did you mean?!"

Silence.

"I just like it is all…"

Hysterically she pulled at her hair before burying her head in her hands. Naruto's words shook her to the core, destroyed whatever shred of happiness remained inside her.

"Don't you dare," she bit out.

Don't you dare leave me Naruto!

...

"Come on," Sasuke urges. It was torture but he had to stay away from the windows, get back from the doors. He'd spent last night chocking on thick, black smoke and tonight in frantic panic. He wasn't sure what was worse.

It would be over soon though because he could feel Sakura slowly approaching. Her chakra is like the tiny spark on the wick of an extinguished candle. She might be seriously injured coming in that door, she might never make it. "Come on," he pushes to the darkness.

Finally the door creaks open and he contained himself just long enough. After it clicks closed he pulls her into him, searching her body for trauma. Relief washes over him when he doesn't find a single scratch, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Where have you been?"

When she looks up her eyes go right through him. He understands instantly, feeling guilty that he couldn't be there for her anymore. Not the way he wanted to be. They were over.

She had made her decision.

...

"Sakura..."

"Call it..."

"I'm sorry-"

"Call it!"

"ID: Kiba Inuzuka, Time of death 22:38 hours. Complications in surgery."


PostCounterClockwise: No one is safe in my twisted mind. Poor Kiba :(