BLURRED SOUND
Sasuke Uchiha met Naruto Uzumaki when he was seven years old; a twist in the time line, and he meets her again five years later during the Chunin Exams – as an Otogakure Genin. SasuFemNaru. AU/AT. Dark Naruto.
CHAPTER TWELVE
- - ROLLING IN THE DEEP - -
'Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation' – Kahlil Gibran.
"...and then, Suzume-sensei said if I really, really wanted to pass flower arranging I'd have to take an extra class at lunchtime! I hate her! It's not my fault I don't know flower stuff like you and Ino – my Mama won't let me do gardening or stuff like that!"
Naruto wasn't listening to what Sakura said, despite feeling some sympathy towards the irate girl. Her thoughts were busy contemplating what she had seen at the beginning of the week, in third Hokage's office.
That creepy man had explained some things like that 'Jinchuriki' word in her file, and told her that the stuff in the folder really was true – that he'd seen people from Uzushiogakure fleeing to Konoha with his own eyes. She hadn't seen Sasuke's file, but if the stuff in her file was true then...
She didn't know what to think of this village any more, and she had the opportunity to do something about it in front of her but... she was scared. What if those files were eye tricks that man had made? She didn't know much about him, other than his name. She had asked Iruka-sensei who he was, saying she had heard some old ninjas talking about him in the market.
He wasn't a good person, she'd know that the moment she'd laid eyes on him, but Iruka-senseis's explanation that he was a missing ninja, and that she shouldn't talk about him again made it harder to clarify her decision making process.
Sasuke was watching her as they headed out of the classroom, and she knew he could see something was wrong – he'd been watching her ever since she'd asked him if he would stay in Konoha, but she ignored it.
If this Orochi... Orochu... If that creepy guy who smells of snakes was really a missing ninja, then he didn't really have any reason to lie to her did he? If he hated Konoha, then why would he bother to lie about something as awful as what she had seen in those files?
Sakura continued to babble away as the headed out into the courtyard, towards the academy gates, but Naruto wasn't interested in Sakura's words; her eyes had drifted in their gaze over the rooftops to the Hokage monument, the one she had decorated in multitude of paint only a few weeks ago.
Her gaze settled on the last two heads carved into the monument, and her feet stopped; one of them was the face of her Papa. She had always wondered what had happened to him and her Mama but... the third Hokage had never told her. Now that she knew what Konoha had done...
Sasuke had said that he wouldn't leave the village unless he had a really good reason, but this knowledge... Could something so bad be a good reason to leave? She wasn't sure if she wanted to leave, at least, she didn't want to leave Sakura and Sasuke, she liked them.
But the third Hokage had lied to her – he had lied to her in a huge, big way, and to Sasuke! She didn't want to tell Sasuke, cuz she shouldn't have been nosing in his family files in the first place, but now that she knew what they had made him go through, what they had made his brother do alongside what they had done to her Mama's village...
"...Sis is making dinner tonight, and she said there was gonna be loads, since she and mama are going on a mission tomorrow and Papa can't cook great, so she said to ask if you wanted to... Naruto? What's wrong?"
Naruto jerked her eyes from the Hokage monument towards her friend; Sakura had a worried look in her eyes that seemed to match the one Sasuke had been giving her all week, that he was giving her now from the other side of the courtyard. Naruto covered her slip with a grin for both their sakes.
"I'm fine Sakura! You worry too much!"
Sakura seemed to believe her, but her eyes lingered, a little more watchful as they continued their way across the academy courtyard, past the swing and towards the gates.
"Well, if you say... So? You want to come over for dinner tonight?"
Naruto paused for a moment again, chewing her lip as she pondered the decision in front of her; Sakura's request was like a final choice for some reason, if she stayed now, she'd have to stay forever, but if she left now she'd have to leave forever. She could only pick one of them, and it had to be before it got really dark and the bell at the shrine started tolling...
That man would be gone then; he'd said he would give her more information, but only if she left with him. He didn't really seem bothered either way, but... She really wanted to do something in return to Konoha; she finally understood Sasuke wanting to get revenge on his brother. If she went with that man and made him train her, then maybe she could do it...
"I really want to – your sis makes the best food for not-ramen food – but I have to do some stuff at home today, and Iruka gave me some extra chakra drills that I want to start so..."
Sakura began laughing at her eagerness to train as they reached the gates, but that wasn't what ran through Naruto's mind at all. Sakura turned in the direction of her own home on reaching the gates, but stopped to wave goodbye first.
Naruto copied the action but one word slipped from her moth that she had never used before. Sakura's cheerful waving stilled for a moment, the worry clouding her eyes as it reached her ears, the same way her questions had worried Sasuke for the whole week.
"Goodbye Sakura."
Sasuke woke up on Jiraiya's back halfway to another town; for a moment, he could pretend that he had just had a horrible nightmare.
It wasn't a very long moment though. As soon as the memories returned, he pushed himself away from the man and started walking on his own; Tsunade and Shizune both tried to encourage him into conversation, but one glare was enough to tell them he didn't want to talk. He focused on the scenery as they walked, keeping himself occupied until they got to the hotel, one in a town a few miles from Konoha.
Once they disappeared on business of their own, he let it all crumple down on him.
Back to the door of their room, he began to let the whirling thoughts completely take over his mind. He couldn't stand being in his own skin right now; he was disgusted, appalled, livid at his own actions, but those feelings were smothered by the hauntingly familiar feeling of grief and loss. Only this was so much worse than the loss of his family had been.
Was it because of who had been killed, or because he had been the one to do the killing? He wanted nothing more than to turn back time, change that moment when he had chosen Konoha over Naruto. If he could redo that moment, he'd choose Otogakure in an instant.
Naruto could lie, scheme and twist him around her finger all she wanted if he could do that; what the hell had he been thinking? He'd thought her dead once before hadn't he? It had been agonizing until he'd realised things hadn't added up... How could he have forgotten that so easily? Why had he thought he would be able to live with this? He couldn't live with this. He couldn't live with this at all. If this was what meant doing his job meant, then he hated it!
Why hadn't she moved out of the way...? Did she have some sort of scheme in the works? He briefly wondered if she had found a way to replace herself, or use some sort of clone, but the dried blood under his fingernails and on his shirt shot those ideas down.
Naruto was dead. He'd killed her. She'd been the last person of any real importance in his life after the massacre, even if she had been missing for five years. Naruto understood him better than anyone else, and he had killed her. He really was Itachi's little brother. He was the fucking spitting image of him now.
There was a knock on the door. Then another. Then another and another. And another; eventually, it became an intrusion so irritating that he stomped to his feet and yanked the door open to tell whoever was on the other side to piss off.
The last person he was wanted and expected to see stood on the other side; his brother, Itachi Uchiha.
It felt like there was a mountain in front of him as he looked at his brother, the three spinning tomoe in his eyes. He could feel the power exuding from him. For a moment he wondered if he would ever be able to kill his brother at all. Then all the bitterness and anger rose, and he lunged at him.
It was very much a one sided fight, his arm was broken before he could even make a stab at his brother with the Chidori, then he was crashed into the wall, held in place by his brother's hand on his throat.
"Is that all you've managed to accomplish in my absence? I'm disappointed in you, foolish little brother..." Itachi informed him; his voice was the same as ever, but it had new tone in it.
Danger, revulsion. Something to be hated; it was the same kind of tone Naruto had used when she had been talking on serious things recently. His fingers of his unbroken arm clawed at the hold on his neck, but the next words from his brother stopped his struggles.
"Where is the Kyuubi Jinchuriki?"
If it was possible for his eyes to go any wider than they already were, then that was Sasuke's response to his brother's unexpected question; what the hell did he want with Naruto? Naruto had mentioned him before too... What the hell was he missing from all this?
"Why should I tell you that? What the hell do you want with her anyway?" he demanded as the grip on his throat dropped and he crashed to the floor.
Itachi placed a foot on his chest as he bent over him, eyes boring into his own, and yanked his broken arm so that it was at a straight angle from his body. He barley noticed the pain from the movement, and wasn't really bothered by Itachi's other foot hovering over it.
His mind was racing, trying to piece something together, but he could feel his chakra being slowly drained from his body... A glance to the left revealed a blue skinned Ex-Kirigakure ninja, leaning against a huge bandage-bound sword only inches from him; the strange smile on his face told him he was the culprit.
"I want nothing to do with the Jinchuriki; I only want what's inside her, but why so interested Sasuke?"
The Kyuubi? What the hell did Itachi want that for? He was enough of a threat without the Kyuubi. He wouldn't get it now of course, thanks to him, but the desire for clarification was galling.
"Naruto's dead" he hissed, ignoring his brother's question; Itachi's foot stomped down on his arm, and he let out a few restricted hisses at the pain.
"I have not the time for your stubbornness Sasuke – where is the Jinchuriki? I know she was in Konoha, that she stayed with you before you left with Jiraiya... I'm going get an answer the easy way or the hard way, but I'll leave that decision up to you" his brother repeated, not a hint of irritation, not a hint of anything in his voice at all.
"She's dead!" Sasuke hissed, spitting at his brothers face such was the vehemence of of his words.
Itachi's fingers gently and calmly wiped the wet substance from his eye, before stamping down hard on his arm, very hard; he screamed, and tried to push the foot on his chest off, but it was stuck like a rock as the pain from the injury shot through him.
"I told you I am in no mood for this; where is the Jinchuriki?" Itachi demanded, grasping his chin with two fingers and forcing him to face him.
Sasuke snapped; that word was the straw to break his back, and though he wasn't quite sure how, he summoned enough energy and raw strength to kick Itachi back some meters; as he struggled back to his feet, he turned his gaze carefully back to his brother. He was sick to death of all this confusion.
"If I told you where her body was would you go dig it up? What the hell do you want with her? There's always something you're after, but what the hell does Naruto have to do with you? Doing what she had to... like you and her parents... what the heck is that supposed to mean?" he roared.
Something flickered across his brother's face for the first time since meeting him again, no since that night he had come home to a massacre... Something in his words had shocked his brother, but what? Damn it, Naruto hadn't been lying at all when she implied there was more to his brother than he knew after all...
"What makes you so certain she's dead?" Itachi asked calm again, but having seen that flicker, Sasuke was certain he detected anxiety there.
It was eerie how closely he watched his brother even now, but he didn't dare tear his eyes away, if only to get something, some sort of answer to one of the wordless questions swarming inside his head. He began to half laugh at the question, but it soon died away with the response.
"I'm certain of it because I killed her; she was acting like you, dancing around and messing up peoples heads for the enjoyment of it! I killed her, that's how I know! I didn't want to do it all, but I did! That's why i care, that's why I'm so interested, so why don't you anser my question? What does she have to do with you?" he roared towards the older figure a few meters away.
Before he could do anything, or say anything more, Itachi had disappeared; there was a yank on one shoulder and he was suddenly turned around, and found Itachi's swirling illusions surrounding him; he was down by the lake, but everything was inverted, and white crows with red eyes swirled around him.
This was the Tsukiyomi but it was different from the last time he had seen it... Why was it different...? The location played into his mind, and fury began to build; Itachi was trawling through his memories! Memories that had nothing to do with him! Focusing his chakra he tried to summon a short burst, something to remove the illusion, but it refused to obey him.
He tried using that of the cursed seal instead, but he needed his own chakra for that to work too – damn it, he was stuck and there was nothing he could do! He knew that someone else's chakra would work but there was no-one nearby who would be able to help!
"...I'm immune to illusions cuz I'm special."
The words floated into his mind as his brother stomped around inside his memories, and he began to wonder if Naruto could see the future too; injecting the cursed seal with some of her own Kyuubi chakra had seemed like insanity, even though he'd received a sensory boost, but now...
Had she known Itachi would be in the area? Whatever the reason, he had some Kyuubi chakra inside him now, and it stood to reason that was why Naruto was immune to illusions; she always had a secondary source of chakra to jolt her out of illusions. If he could get the Kyuubi chakra to work for him then-
The mere thought alone was enough to jerk him back to the real world, and while he felt consciousness slipping away from him once again (a reaction to the implanted Kyuubi chakra ) he was certain he could see disbelief and... sympathy on his brothers face.
Naruto opened her eyes to find the walls of Otogakure surrounding her; it seemed the Kyuubi had done it's work as she had anticipated. She did notice low chakra reserves but that was to be expected. Still, she wasn't as achy as she normally was... glancing to either side of the room, she finally sighted Kabuto.
He felt the fluctuation in her chakra, and looked up from one of the the other ninjas he was overseeing a water-based experiment on; there were two test subjects, brothers, and he had been having a lot of headaches with it. If his expression in face of her interruption was anything to go by, be still was.
"You're awake; I was actually beginning to get concerned you know." he said, letting out a surprising sigh of relief.
"So it would seem... How long was I out?" she asked.
Kabuto gestured for her to sit up, and untied the bandages wrapped around her, examining the flesh wound on her front and back for any signs of bleeding; it was odd to see a still healing scar there. The Kyuubi usually healed them.
"A week; Sasuke's Chidori pierced the edge of your heart as well as your lungs and spine; Orochimaru-sama had to use a life transfer technique for a few minuets before the Kyuubi could start regenerating – you were lucky he was so close to the transfer date that loosing a few months didn't matter, or you might have been beyond help..." he chastised.
Naruto's eyes widened a little at that; she had been torn over whether Sasuke would deal the blow or not, but she hadn't expected the Chidori to do that much damage to her eirther if he did. It must have been the lightning reacting inside her body that damaged her heart. The actual blow hadn't been close enough to do any damage...
"You took a risky gamble there Naruto; do you really know what you're doing?" he asked, his hands starting a scan of her scarred chest, a frown on his face.
For all his Orochimaru-obsessing, Kabuto was actually a friend in some ways; he didn't like the Kyuubi chakra at all, though that was his own fault for not listening when she was first attempting to control her one-tailed state, but he had a lot of respect for her all the same. She didn't like him enough for her to actually trust him though; that was just stupidity.
"I already told you Kabuto, I know how Sasuke's mind works; by the time I get back to Konoha, he'll be packed before I even have to ask him tojoin..." she replied, catching her tongue before she could say 'join me' instead of 'join us' or 'join Orochimaru'.
"That's not what I meant" he replied, his hands pausing as he moved around to her back, focusing on one spot of the scarred flesh there – she could feel her insides healing as he focused, but she was too busy trying to compute his reply to notice much.
"Pardon?" she asked.
"If you think you can do the job, then I'm not going to stop you, but if your feelings surrounding Sasuke are going to get in the way when you go back to Konoha, then I strongly recommend giving up while you're ahead" he informed her bluntly, sill focusing on her back.
Naruto stiffened, not sure whether she should be stunned that Kabuto was offering her advice, or by what he was implying; he couldn't possibly mean what he was saying could he? She'd already admitted that she had a rather complex relationship with Sasuke to herself, but Kabuto couldn't be serious could he?
"There's nothing to get in the way... Did you use yourself as a test subject for Orochimaru's experimental drugs again while I was gone? You know those things fuck up your brain..." she replied, real confusion in her voice.
"If there's nothing to get in the way, why are you so defensive?" he asked, a smug look crossing his face as he returned to the entry wound on her front.
Naruto bit her lip, avoiding his gaze with a frown on his face; he was right. She was being defensive. She didn't like it when he was right; just because he was right didn't mean she wasn't either though! Whether she had developed... deeper attachments to Sasuke than previously or not, it still didn't mean they would cause her any hypothetical problems.
She had intended to come back for him anyway - that she may or may not have stronger opinions of him than... what she had before... was unlikley to interfere with her plans.
"Because I don't like nosy people; did you forget that I have plans of my own? If ensuring Sasuke becomes Orochimaru's next body makes them a reality, I don't care what happens to him." she replied, no longer uncomfortable under Kabuto's warning gaze, but rather her own words.
Kabuto sighed, rolled his eyes and continued his check up; it was longer than his usual ones given the depth of the injury, but he eventually pronounced her fit for travel. Upon hearing the news, Naruto grabbed her clothes from where they had been piled at the end of the bed, and began with pulling on her skirt.
"You should avoid strenuous fighting if you can avoid it; don't even think about using your chakra for anything beyond running, and definitely no tails. It's going to be a few days before you have enough of you own chakra back to maintain proper control, and I don't need to tell you it will only hinder the healing process" he informed her once the examination was over.
Naruto nodded absently as she re-wrapped her bandages across her chest and pulled her orange shirt back on – it appeared to have been mended by one of the minions. She was trying to remember her timings and distances... She had lost a week, and she needed to figure them out for her next steps.
"Kabuto, you said Itachi and Fishy had picked up my trail when we met up on the way to Tanzaku didn't you? How far behind us were they?" she asked, pulling her mesh leggings and gloves on, before pulling on her sandals.
"Itachi ran into Sasuke two days ago; he's back in Konoha now. I had one of my summons follow him for you" Kabuto replied, already knowing what was running through her mind as he handed over her own med-pack and kunai holster.
Putting them on, Naruto hopped down from the bed and headed for the door with a lazy wave of thanks; she had buisness to finish in Konoha, and a stupid injury like being impaled by a Chidori wasn't going to get in her way.
Sakura didn't really know how she expected to find Naruto trawling the streets of Konoha as she was, but she had to do something. If only to ease her worry over both the blonde girl and her team-mate.
Sasuke had been barley a shell of his old self when he returned from his training trip with Jiraiya and the new Hokage; word of Naruto's death at his had was the biggest piece of gossip in the village right now, but he had shut himself up in his flat as soon as he had arrived in Konoha.
Sakura had been torn between being relived that he had finally moved past her, or grieving for the both of them for two days; it was then that it suddenly clicked that Naruto wasn't dead. It was just like her to do something like this to Sasuke if it was in her best interests; no-one would believe she had lived after a Chidori through the chest, especially one from Sasuke. Especially not Sasuke himself.
It was too easy; of course, she was certain the village officials already knew that, but Naruto had sneaked back into the village after the invasion. Security had been furiously high then, despite the destruction. Sakura was certain that not only could she do it again, but that she already had.
She must have wandered the streets aimlessly for close to five hours before heading back to to her home in the village centre; her father took one look at her, and then headed for the kitchen to make some cheer-up food. The chocolate-banana crepes almost worked, but he didn't seem surprised when she headed to bed earlier than she usually did.
She didn't sleep; she sat on the edge of her bed and stared out of her window towards the Uchiha district; normally, she couldn't see it, but many of the buildings that had once been in the way were destroyed during the invasion; she couldn't even begin to think of how Sasuke felt. People were saying he had run into his brother on the way back too...
She sighed and ran her hands through her hair before she started to unfasten her shuriken pouch and kunai holster with worry and frustration in her gestures; she was so absorbed in her own worries that she almost didn't feel the chakra present in her room until she was about to start changing into her night clothes.
Freezing her movements, she cast a suspicious gaze around the room; she had only felt it once, but for a moment she could have sworn... Narrowing her eyes she merged her fingers into a hand seal and spoke a single word as she fluctuated her own chakra.
"Release!"
The illusion melted away to reveal the very person she had been searching for perched on top of her dresser with an amused eyebrow raised; Naruto gave her a slimy, slithery sort of smile, and delicately waved the fingers of her left hand at her.
"I'm impressed Sakura – even Sensei has to concentrate a little more to find me when I use that illusion, but you didn't even take five minuets to notice me – guess you Harunos really are suited for illusions and fiddly stuff like that..." Naruto remarked in an offhand manner as she stared at her.
"I knew it...! I knew you weren't dead! Not right away but... Don't you have any feeling left in you? Sasuke... He... Do you even care what you did to him? " Sakura whispered, her whisper a harsh demand as her fingers searched for the kunai holster that had been discarded on her bed only moments before.
Naruto watched her, that amused look still on her face, before a yellow flash filled her room – a blinding flash of light. Once it faded, she realised that her shuriken pouch and kunai holster were gone; glancing towards Naruto, she found them on her lap. Naruto didn't look like she had moved a muscle at all...
"Did that Chidori fry your brain cells instead of killing you like Sasuke thinks it did? The Anbu are on high alert Naruto! Get out! Get out and leave us alone! You've done enough damage already!" Sakura hissed at the blonde girl directly opposite her.
Naruto listened calmly, before a flicker of surprise crossed her face, and she smirked.
"Aww, you worried about little old me Sakura?" she asked, hopping off the dresser and leaning in towards her on light footsteps.
Sakura stared at her, before giving her incredibly reluctant, nonsensical reply.
"...Yes."
Itachi finally shows up! Itachi, Itachi Itachiiiiii! *insert fan-girl squeal and dance*. I've been waiting to write him in for ages! I know it isn't very different from canon at this point, but I love him to pieces...! I can promise that he will make more of an appearance in part two, but that's all you get of him for now... Unless I can sneak him in again somehow... *rifles through yet-to-be-published chapters and ponders editing them... again*
I will stop torturing Sasuke though – maybe not manipulatinghim, but I promise I won't torture him so much. In part one anyway. Can't make no promises for part two though. Title is 'Rolling In The Deep' by Adele - I love that song to death. I think it fits SasuNaru all over, not just for this chapter. It also fits Sakura a little bit, in regards to Naruto at the end of the chapter...
Hope you all liked the chapter :)
Nat.
xxx
I had fun writing this chapter – mostly because I enjoy torturing Sasuke a little too much, and because Sakura is finallycoming into the role I have planned for her. If any of you have ideas about her role, feel free to guess. There's a hint in the flashback!
Kabuto is fun to write too – I think if Naruto had joined Oto, they would have a weird friendship of sorts, so I like writing Kabbsy...
