The author says: I'm so glad that you liked the fight scenes in the last chapter!
Please enjoy chapter 13!
Hier kommt etwas auf deutsch! Da ich gesehen habe, dass immer mehr Deutsche meine story lesen, wollte ich euch auch mal direkt ansprechen! Fühlt euch hiermit sehr herzlich dazu eingeladen, auch auf deutsch zu reviewen! ;) Vielen Dank an alle deutschen Leser! Ich hoffe, dass euch dieses Kapitel gefällt!
I don't own Naruto.
'He had no Idea'
Chapter 13
Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me any more
Not that you knew me back then
but it all comes back to me
(In the end)
You kept everything inside and even though I tried/ it all fell apart
What it meant to me/ will eventually/ be a memory/ of a time when
I tried so hard
and got so far
But in the end
it doesn't even matter
I had to fall
to lose it all
- 'In The End' by Linkin Park
Sunagakure no Sato, the Kazekage's private training grounds:
Four days after the successful battle against Sasori and Deidara, Naruto was already training again. He had hardly been injured at all. Neither had been his team mates. The only one out of order was Kakashi. His old sensei had been conscious for some hours yesterday and explained to him and the others what had happened.
Apparently, Kakashi had managed to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan, a more powerful version of the normal Sharingan. Naruto vaguely remembered that Itachi had one, as well. Besides that, he didn't know a lot about the Doujutsu of the Uchiha clan.
The technique Kakashi had used was called Kamui (1); a jutsu with which he was able to send objects to another dimension. That was how he had stopped Deidara's suicide bomb; practically sucked it out of the air.
However, since Kakashi was not an Uchiha, using the Mangekyou was taking a huge toll on his body. The amount of chakra he needed to perform the jutsu, had left him completely drained. For now he was resting in the private hospital room in the Kazekage Tower.
As far as the villagers were concerned, the small delegation from Konoha was in Suna for a surprise visit. Kakashi had over-exhausted himself during training. Or that was what they said when anyone asked about his condition.
Kankurou was happily working on Sasori's puppet body. The young puppeteer was determined to restore it and use it in future battles. It was an excellent puppet, one of the likes Kankurou had not yet been able to build in his young years.
Gaara had only suffered from a severe case of chakra exhaustion, but he was up the next day already. The advantages of being a Jinchuuriki. His wounds were healing nicely and thanks to Naruto's former visits to Suna, no-one was wondering why the Kazekage was injured. Training with Naruto always left behind some more or less obvious clues.
Kiba and Akamaru were discovering the unknown territory. The Inuzuka kept complaining about the sand and the heat, but he seemed to like the foreign food quite enough.
Shikamaru was spending a lot of time with Temari. In fact, there was hardly a time when Naruto didn't see the two together. When Kiba had teased the Nara about it, he had only shrugged and muttered a "Troublesome," but Naruto had seen the lightest blush on his cheeks and shared a knowing look with Neji.
The Hyuuga was training with Naruto right now. Somehow, Naruto's team seemed to be worried about him. The other boys never left him alone, one of them was always with him. The blond young man hadn't allowed himself much rest after the fight. The little scratches he had received, had been healed by Kyuubi before they arrived back in Suna.
He felt Neji's eyes on him, as he stood in the middle of the training ground, his head turned away from the glaring sun. Naruto wore his normal clothes, since they were supposedly on vacation. His already tanned skin was darkening under the desert sun. Much to Neji's annoyance. The light-skinned Hyuuga needed to cover his skin completely lest he got a nice sunburn.
Naruto ran a hand over his sweaty forehead. Thanks to Kyuubi he could endure the heat way better than the other Leaf-nin, but he still felt hot and dusty. His blond hair was dirty and at the end of the day, a considerable amount of sand fell from hit when he shook his head like Akamaru.
The boy stretched his arms over his head, enjoying the feeling of his plopping joints. He yawned lazily and finally looked at Neji, who was persistently staring at him.
"What is it, Neji?" he asked, his voice tired and slightly irritated.
The brunette walked closer and stopped in front of his captain. "What's wrong with you, Naruto-san?" he asked, concerned.
Naruto had learned to ignore the fact that Neji still addressed him so formally, but every time he tried to correct him, the other said it'd be disrespectful to speak to his captain like that. So Naruto just let him have his way.
The blond deliberately looked away from him, feigning confusion. But he should know by now that you could not hide your feelings from the Hyuuga prodigy. Damn the Hyyugas and their all-knowing eyes.
"You have been unusually absent-minded since you killed Sasori," Neji spoke, ignoring the fact that his captain was ignoring him. "I want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, I'm right here."
Naruto glanced at him, surprised by the offer. Speaking about his problems to Neji had not been the first thing on his mind, but on the other hand, talking to anyone about any of his feelings was never really on his mind.
"Um, thanks, Neji," the blond said unintelligently, but Neji still caught the grateful undertone.
Without waiting for Naruto to say anything else, the brunette went on. "I was wondering what might have you so worried, Naruto-san. So I came up with some theories."
Naruto blinked. Man, he's unusually talkative today.
Again, Neji didn't wait for Naruto's reply, but kept talking. "The first thing I thought you might have found disturbing –"
"Neji, just spit it out," Naruto said, clearly irritated by the Hyuuga's refined and way too complicated way of talking.
Neji pursed his lips, but nodded; outwardly unfazed by his captain's lack of patience. But then he asked the question straight away. "Was it the first time you killed someone?"
Naruto blinked again, actually a bit moved that the Hyuuga cared so much to ask him whether he had any qualms or regrets about killing.
The Jinchuuriki gave Neji a sad smile. "No, Neji, it was not the first time."
In fact, he had killed enemies several times already; while travelling with Jiraiya, but also during the half year he had been on his own. Jiraiya had told him something that he had taken to heart. If you need to kill someone, gaki, wait for the right moment. But never hesitate. If your heart hesitates only a second, it can get you killed in turn. Wait when it's necessary, but never hesitate. It's either you or them.
Naruto had long thought about his sensei's words and for a long time, he had thought them heartless. But he had come to understand that killing was part of the job. He'd always wanted to be a ninja and ninjas were confronted with death more times than they liked it. While Naruto didn't enjoy killing, he told himself that it was necessary.
If he was honest with himself, he didn't regret killing Sasori. No, not at all. By killing him, Naruto had eliminated a threat to himself, his fellow Jinchuuriki and also the rest of the world. Sasori was a criminal, a lunatic, who turned people into human puppets. That was not art but disgusting.
No, he didn't regret killing him. It was just like Jiraiya had taught him. It's either you or them.
Realizing he had spaced out, Naruto focused and saw Neji's pale eyes still on him.
"Thanks, Neji, but that's not it," Naruto assured him.
Neji gave a curt nod, he believed him.
"What is it then? Are you not satisfied with our performance during the fight?"
Naurto's head snapped up, gaping. "Wh-What?" he asked, perplexed and a little shocked.
How could Neji say something like that? Hadn't Naruto told his team how great they did?
"Neji," he began, his voice firm and eyes hard, to make Neji see how serious he was, "I could never have finished Sasori on my own. You guys were awesome and if not for you, I'm pretty sure the outcome of this fight would have been different."
Neji nodded again and Naruto thought for a moment that the Hyuuga actually knew what was bothering him, but wanted to give him the opportunity to address it on his own.
A sudden wave of panic swelled up inside of Naruto and he probably spoke too quickly, because the brunette was frowning suspiciously.
"Look, Neji... I appreciate your concern, but please... There's no need to worry about me, I'm fine, really."
The way the pale eyes bore into his made Naruto turn away from his team mate, feeling uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze and knowing eyes.
The blond felt a hand brush his arm gently, comfortingly. "Please don't lie to me, Naruto-san. I won't press the matter, since I see that it makes you feel uncomfortable. But please know that you're not alone."
The touch was gone from his arm and as Naruto spun around, a weak protest on his lips, Neji had already left in a whirl of leaves.
Naruto let his head hung and ungracefully slumped down, lying flatly on the hot sand of Gaara's private training grounds.
There were no clouds in the blue sky. He had to squint his eyes against the blinding sun. He folded his hands under his head and looked up at a sky that looked so different from the one he knew from Konoha.
A heartfelt sigh forced itself over his lips.
You're not alone.
Again those words. Everyone kept telling him that.
Maybe it was time he started believing it once and for all?
Naruto closed his eyes against the sun, a sceptical frown on his face. It was so stupid of him to shut everyone out after the fight. His team had shown a team work that he had not thought they were capable of yet. The team was only three weeks young after all, and even after all the intense training and the two smaller missions the had taken, they lacked experience. But against Sasori, everyone had contributed their skills. Even if Naruto had been the one to land the final blow, the other guys had made it possible in the first place.
No, his team was not worrying him. Something else was and he had tried his best to physically occupy his body for that his mind had no time to think.
That plan had failed.
He had never been the person to talk to other people about his problems. He snorted at the thought. There had never been a person to share his problems with in the first place. The very few people that had cared about him during his childhood, he never wanted to trouble them. He had mouthed his anger or sadness to Sasuke sometimes, but the boy had never really shown any interest. And now I know why. He just never cared.
The frown on his tanned face deepened and he forced himself to stop with the cynical thoughts.
Right, he mentally snapped at himself, back to more cheerful thoughts. To what was really bothering him.
Kyuubi.
It had taken all of his stubborn will to shut the demon out during the fight. He had felt him lurking in the back of his mind the whole time, waiting for the tiniest slip on Naruto's part. The feeling of his intense bloodlust had made him sick.
Too clearly he remembered how he had almost given in to his alluring promises of killing all his enemies for him, if he only let him out; ripped off the seal on his cage in his mind.
He remembered how he had stared at Sasori's poisoned blood on his hand, running down his fingers, with a fascination that was not his own.
He had been a step away from licking it off his fingers.
Suddenly feeling very nauseated, Naruto shuddered and set up, clutching his stomach.
What would have happened, if Shikamaru had not called out to him? Naruto didn't want to know.
Maybe he was not alone, like Neji and everyone else kept telling him. But he would be again, as soon as they found out.
Found out that he heard the Kyuubi's dark laughter in the back of his mind.
Somewhere in a forest in Lightning Country:
The only female member of Team Taka glanced at the raven, who had freed her from Orochimaru's lair. Sasuke was resting against the trunk of a tree, his eyes closed and his shoulders slightly slumped. The plan had been to only stop for lunch for an hour or so, but soon after they had finished eating, they heard his even breathing and knew their boss had fallen asleep.
The three others had decided not to wake the pale young man. In the four months since Sasuke had assembled the team, they had watched his condition slowly but steadily grow worse.
They were not sure when it had actually started, but the first signs of his inner distress had shown when they had followed a lead on Itachi for over three weeks. When they just thought they had actually caught up to him, they found out that they had missed the older Uchiha by mere minutes. They hadn't been able to track him again after that. And Sasuke had lost it.
He had obliterated half the forest of Earth Country in his blind frenzy; raging until he had no chakra left. He had keeled over right there, in the midst of his destruction, and Juugo had had to carry him, for they had to leave the country lest they wanted to be found by the Kumo shinobi.
That had been two months ago. Sasuke had not said a word about the incident and the others knew better than to mention the momentary loss of his famous control.
Silently agreeing to keep an eye on their boss from then on, the three began watching him closely. Karin was the first to recognize the signs of Sasuke's inner torment. She felt it in his chakra, the changing of his moods.
Most of the times, Sasuke's chakra was dark and broody. But then it would turn to utterly depressed at times, until Karin could hardly stand his presence. The anger was always boiling in Sasuke. Karin was not too surprised that the pale raven needed to let go of the pressure at certain moments.
But there was something else, buried deep inside the young Uchiha. But so far Karin was unable to put her finger on the feeling that Sasuke tried to ignore.
And now, three pairs of eyes were regarding the raven quietly, as the permanent scowl on his face eased out in sleep.
Suigetsu raised his eyebrows in surprise. They often woke up in the middle of the night, aroused by Sasuke's nightmares. To see him resting in daylight was something new for them and to actually see him going through his troublesome dreams morbidly fascinated them.
Their otherwise cool and impassive boss never talked much, but they had come to terms with his cold attitude towards them. They knew he had not gathered them to form a happy family, but out of necessity; their only goal was to hunt Itachi and to finally kill him. That Sasuke killed Itachi, that was.
Karin's eyes widened in awe as Sasuke's features smoothed out and his chakra lit up. Wait – what?
The redhead closed her eyes and concentrated on the raven's chakra. There was an entirely new feeling to it; like a nuance of a colour she had never seen before. The underlying anger was not gone completely, but it felt as if something had pushed it away, gently.
Then it changed. All of a sudden, the cloud of darkness seemed to grow. It violently exploded and overshadowed the tiny beacon of light in Sasuke's chakra.
And Karin felt it, the feeling she hadn't been able to name before. It was... despair. Mixed with gut-wrenching fear that Karin couldn't explain. Whatever Sasuke was dreaming about, was affecting him greatly; more than anything during the day ever did. It was so easy for Karin to read his chakra, however, she could never tell his emotions from looking at his blank face.
Her eyes flew open as Juugo nudged her hard on the arm. Her red eyes immediately fell on the raven, whose face once more was a grimace of pure anguish. Only in his sleep was it that he couldn't fight against his emotions to show outwardly.
The boy woke with a start, his onyx eyes wide in panic. "Naruto–"
The name died on his lips as onyx eyes focused and recognized the three people staring at him. He realized he was breathing too fast and forced his body to relax. His back slumped back against the tree. He pulled his legs up a bit and let his arms rest loosely on his knees. He felt too hot and his heart was still beating irregularly in his chest.
Suigetsu and Juugo shared a look, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. Karin was still staring at the boy, still trying to comprehend the disturbance in his chakra. She was wondering. Before she could stop herself, the question was out of her mouth.
"Who is Naruto?" the redhead blurted out.
Sasuke's head snapped up, onyx eyes staring at her, but not really seeing her.
Karin pushed her glasses back up her nose and silently prayed she wouldn't fall victim to one of Sasuke's fits. But to everyone's surprise, the raven spoke.
"He..." he swallowed and the others shared a confused look. Sasuke actually sharing some of his past?
His eyes fell closed as the image of a blond-haired, blue-eyed, little boy appeared on his mind.
"He was someone... I left behind," Sasuke said in a hollow voice. His tone was final and everyone knew that the conversation was over. And better not to be mentioned again.
It was three days later that Team Taka arrived in a small city where they planned to stock up on food and fresh clothes. It was also one of the rare nights they spent in an actual bed.
Sasuke and Suigetsu were walking through the lively streets, keeping their ears and eyes open for the smallest hint on Sasuke's brother. Suigetsu was grumbling under his breath, annoyed at his boss, who never allowed him to take his huge sword with him. But they were civilians here and even Sasuke had left his visible weapons in the hotel.
Suigetsu was eyeing Sasuke from the corner of his eyes. The white-haired water-boy had been the first to travel with Sasuke and while Suigetsu would never admit it out loud, he was kind of grateful to Sasuke that he had freed him from Orochimaru's labs. The raven could have easily left him there, leaving him at Kabuto's mercy. But the Uchiha had actually taken him with him, freeing him from his prison and ending his miserable existence as one of Orochimaru's test objects.
So Suigetsu had grown attached to Sasuke. Another fact the boy would never admit aloud. But he couldn't help to feel a tiny bit worried about Sasuke. He didn't need Karin's sensory abilities to see that something was seriously wrong with the raven. He looked paler than usual – unhealthy even.
And what had that nightmare three days ago been about? Engrossed in his own thoughts, Suigetsu almost ran into his boss's back, as Sasuke suddenly stopped walking.
Suigetsu looked at Sasuke, who in turn was staring at the sign of a restaurant. Suigetsu's lilac eyes wandered up and widened.
Why was the usually stoic Uchiha staring at a ramen restaurant of all things as if he'd seen a ghost?
Sasuke's eyes were unfocused, a funny look on his face. Suigetsu really couldn't say what it was. The smell of the salty ramen noodles was thick in the air. Suigetsu scrunched his nose. He was not a big fan of ramen.
But apparently Sasuke was.
The raven had stopped staring and was now walking into the small stand, sitting on a stool in front of the counter. Unsure of what was going on, Suigetsu shrugged and followed him, taking the stool next to Sasuke.
"Are you hungry, boss?" the white-haired shinobi asked, glancing at Sasuke.
But the raven didn't answer, since the chef came.
"Three servings of large miso ramen, please," Sasuke gave his order; his voice soft and sounding as if he was in some kind of trance.
Suigetsu gaped openly. There was the answer to his earlier question; Sasuke was obviously very hungry. But why was he acting so strange? And Suigetsu had never figured Sasuke to be the ramen-loving type of person.
Suigetsu hastily ordered as the chef cleared his throat, waiting.
The food came quickly and they ate in silence. Sasuke didn't say a word.
The raven was deep in thoughts, caught up in memories of a blond-haired boy, who loved to eat ramen. How many times had they had lunch at Ichiraku's? He had no idea. How many times had he refused to taste Naruto's favourite food? Just as many, if not more.
Sasuke savoured the salty taste. And suddenly he wasn't in Kaminari no Kuni any more, but back in Konoha. He saw a twelve-year old Naruto sitting next to him, happily chattering away about whatnot, while simultaneously trying to keep the noodles in his mouth. The boy's loud way of talking had often resulted in Sasuke getting spit at. He would glare at him and reprimand him for talking while chewing.
"Dobe," he would have said and sometimes even rolled his eyes at him in playful exasperation.
"What? Sasuke? I didn't get you," Suigetsu spoke up, leaning closer to Sasuke.
Sasuke stared at his chop-sticks, halfway to his mouth. A smirk appeared on his lips. How often did he have to pay for him, because his ridiculous frog – no, it was a toad, he remembered, he had always corrected him for calling it a frog – of a wallet had been empty again? He had no idea.
Bemused, Sasuke snorted and brought the chop-sticks to his mouth and dug in.
Why had he so vehemently refused to try this during their childhood? Ramen was really not that bad. Actually, he liked the taste. Besides, it reminded him of Naruto.
A content smirk spread over Sasuke's chewing lips as the depressive air hanging over him lifted. With every bite he swallowed, the ever-present dull ache in his chest lessened. His stomach filled with ramen. Absent-minded as he was, he didn't even realize that he was already on the third bowl. The smirk on his face grew as he imagined Naruto ordering yet another three bowls. He really loved ramen.
Was Naruto in Konoha now? Enjoying a bowl of ramen? He had no idea.
And was he – he choked. The bite got stuck in his throat.
He coughed violently.
What the hell was he doing? Wondering about what Naruto was doing? He was supposed to wonder where his brother was! Not Naruto! He had left him behind. Just like he had told his team three days ago.
So why was the boy constantly on his mind? He was in his dreams during the night, on his mind during the day...
Irritated with himself, Sasuke dug into his pocket and put money on the counter, violently pushing the bowl away from him, broth sloshing over. He got up from the stool and – fled. It was nothing else. He fled his own memories, trying to escape the image of the blue-eyed boy that was haunting him.
"Oi, Sasuke, wait up!" Suigetsu called after him, thoroughly bewildered at the other's behaviour. What the hell was going on?
Sasuke didn't wait for the boy. He wanted to get away from the smell of ramen as quickly as possible. He still tasted it on his tongue, tasted Naruto on his tongue.
What the hell was wrong with him?
He had no idea.
It was his first day in the Ninja Academy. Uchiha Sasuke was excited. His beloved aniki was a strong shinobi and little Sasuke wanted to be just like him. So going to the academy was the first step. Sasuke wanted Itachi to be proud of him. And his father, too.
Absorbed in his thoughts about his future life as a shinobi of the Leaf, Sasuke didn't see the small blond boy approaching him.
He sat down in the seat next to him and introduced himself loudly as, "Uzumaki Naruto!"
A wide foxy grin was splitting the blond's face. He was bouncing in his seat from excitement. His spiky hair was messily hanging onto his forehead; his baby blue eyes sparkled from mischief.
His tanned skin was practically glowing and a healthy blush was on his scarred cheeks. Sasuke briefly wondered about the whisker-like birthmarks, but was more surprised about the glaring orange of the other's jumpsuit.
Sasuke stared at the bubbly blond in bewilderment. Never before had he met someone as cheerful as this boy. The Uchiha clan was known to be rather cold and emotionless. Sasuke thought of his stoic father and his calm brother. He knew how to act around them.
But he had absolutely no idea how to respond to this grinning boy.
So he did the only thing he knew.
He didn't smile back at him. He didn't take the offered hand. He broke eye contact and turned away from him, facing the front of the class.
Sasuke frowned. Inwardly he was debating with himself; wondering if this was the correct way to act. Maybe I should've just told him my name?
The raven quickly turned back towards the blond, his mouth already opened to give him his name, when he saw his reaction.
The blond boy, who had introduced himself as Uzumaki Naruto, was slowly letting the offered hand fall back to his side. His grin faltered. The light in his blue eyes dimmed, his excited bouncing stopped.
Sasuke took it all in and as Naruto was about to turn his back on him, he murmured, "Uchiha Sasuke."
His blond head spun back around to face the raven again and his baby blue eyes met his onyx ones. His foxy grin was back, wider than ever. Sasuke was sure he could count all of his white teeth, if he had wanted to.
The young Uchiha had no idea why he felt so compelled to answer the other. He had no idea why he felt the urge to smile at the bubbly blond. His grin must be contagious, Sasuke reasoned. The boy felt a tug at the corner of his mouth. Smiling like this felt unfamiliar to him. Am I doing this right?
The sound of sudden laughter made Sasuke blush. The blond boy dared laughing at him! No one laughed at an Uchiha! At least that's what his father always said.
The laughter turned into soft chuckles. "Sasuke, smiling is not so hard!" the blond said warmly, "but you have to lift both corners of your mouth, not only one!"
Sasuke looked at him questioningly. He had no idea that he had just given Naruto the very first of his soon-to-be famous lopsided smirks.
And it would not be the last time he would give his 'first' of anything to this boy. But he had no idea.
Sasuke watched the small blond boy in awe.
The light in the classroom slowly vanished. Everything around the two went black.
And Sasuke knew the memory was over.
Sasuke grew; from his six-year-old to his seventeen-year-old self. The boy in front of him stayed the same.
The grin on his chubby face died. The excited light in his eyes died. Then he died.
Naruto gasped, clutching a hand over his heart. Sasuke knew what he would see there. His own arm, buried in Naruto's chest. The bright orange of his jumpsuit was sprinkled with crimson. Hot blood ran through his fingers and he felt Naruto's heart stop.
His eyes closed. Naruto was dead.
"No, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, shaking the blond. But he knew it was not enough. He was too late. He had killed him.
Sasuke was killing Naruto every night in his dreams.
And after he had killed him... the boy would open his eyes again.
"I hate you, Sasuke!" Hate you... Hate you... Hate you...
Accusing eyes. Pained eyes. And oh, the overwhelming hatred in them...
Sasuke shot up from his bed.
Fuck. He ran a hand through his hair. It stuck to his sweaty forehead.
Why? Why did he have to live through this every fucking night? Was this his punishment for abandoning his best friend?
He felt sick. He shouldn't have eaten the ramen.
Ever since Itachi had shown him Naruto's death in the genjutsu, Sasuke was having nightmares about it. They always started as pleasant memories; memories he had assumed to be long forgotten. Or banned from his mind. Then his pleasant dreams turned into nightmares. Always ending in Naruto's death. At his hands.
Was it pathetic to wish that the nightmares wouldn't stop? Because that would mean that he would also stop reliving the pleasant memories of his time with Naruto? Yes. Pathetic.
Sasuke fell back on the bed, an arm over his eyes.
Naruto...
It was not the first time that Sasuke was wondering how everything would have turned out if he had just listened to his best friend and gone home to Konoha with him. Naruto and the others were probably all Chuunin by now. Maybe some of them even Jounin. Was the dobe a jounin already? Sasuke doubted it. Naruto was skilled, yes, but he was also clumsy and loud and, frankly, not the sharpest kunai in the pouch.
Sasuke snorted. Konoha... Would he ever see the village he had grown up in again? Maybe... maybe he could go back...? After he had killed Itachi, of course.
Maybe... Naruto...
Oh, how much Sasuke hated the boy.
For weakening his resolve. Over and over again.
For being on his mind. All the time.
For robbing his sleep. Every night.
For making his chest hurt. So much.
For making him regret. The day he had left him behind. The day he had chosen revenge over his best friend.
In Konoha:
Two months had passed since the successful mission in Wind Country. And once again, ANBU Team Four – also dubbed as 'Team Naruto' – had returned almost unscathed from their latest mission.
"Hokage-sama, ANBU Team Four reporting back from mission," Naruto stepped forward, his Weasel mask covering his face and the hood hiding his sunny hair.
The three boys behind him gave respectful bows to the leader of their village and stood silently behind their captain. Their uniforms were dirty and bloody. The mission had been messier than the ones before and all four of them wanted to get out of their clothes and wash the blood from their bodies. But the mission report came first.
Naruto delivered all necessary information in a firm voice. The others called it his captain-voice. It was remarkable how easily Naruto switched between the young but fierce ANBU captain and the rather innocent teenager.
He finished his oral report and Tsunade ordered him to hand in the written report on the next day. This duty fell to Neji, since Tsunade refused to take anything hand-written from Naruto; much to the boy's chagrin. But his handwriting was so poor that Tsunade had to read it twice or even thrice to decipher the messy letters, and his spelling was full of faults. Naruto had blushed the first time Tsunade had berated him for his writing, but really, no-one could blame him. None of the teachers in the academy had truly taken the time to support the boy or just to correct his mistakes. So he was stuck with the skills of a six-year-old. And Neji was stuck with writing the reports. Not so much to Naruto's chagrin.
"Ne, baa-chan," Naruto drawled, yawning tiredly, throwing all formalities aside. The mission had lasted for five days and they had hardly caught any sleep. "When do we have the next mission?"
Tsunade looked the young shinobi in front of her desk over. They looked like they needed a rest. A small one at least.
"Report back in three days," the Hokage said. Naruto nodded and the four vanished in shunshins, going their separate ways.
Naruto reappeared in his apartment – and immediately felt his presence.
"Itachi," Naruto addressed the man sitting at his table, drinking a cup of tea. This was already his third visit in only two months. The Uchiha seemed to make it a habit to wait for him to return home.
And it had come so far that he made himself tea, drinking from his cup.
Wearily, Naruto checked that the curtains were closed. The apartment was dark.
"What can I do for you tonight?" he joked tiredly, slumping down on the chair opposite from Itachi. He took off the mask that had once belonged to the man in front of him and pushed back the hood to reveal his hair. He felt it was crusted with blood. Scrunching his nose, he realized that he was still sweaty and dirty and smelling like he hadn't bathed in a week. Well, it had been five days.
Itachi smirked at Naruto's dishevelled appearance.
"Take a shower while I make you dinner."
Naruto blinked dumbly. "Come again?"
Itachi got up and walked around the table. He gently grabbed the blond's arm and pulled him to his feet. "You heard me," he only said and smirked, "Besides, you smell."
Blushing indignantly, Naruto muttered under his breath about 'stupid stuck-up Uchihas'. But he went to the bathroom nonetheless, picking up fresh clothes from his dresser on the way and shut the door more forcefully than necessary.
Not ten minutes later, Naruto re-emerged, drying his messy hair with an orange towel. His bare feet left wet footprints on the floor. He was wearing an orange sleeveless shirt, a relict from his childhood, which was a bit short. The grey sweatpants were not his own but Kiba's. Naruto had 'borrowed' them from him on a mission once and had conveniently forgotten to give them back. But hey, they were just super comfy.
Itachi heard Naruto walking towards him and glanced at him from over his shoulder. "Set the table," he ordered and Naruto shook his head, but did as the raven said.
Their relationship was a strange one. Naruto didn't know when he had come to trust Itachi like this, but his frequent nightly visits had turned into something he actually looked forward to. Itachi would provide him with new information, while Naruto updated him on the situation in Konoha. Afterwards they would talk about a lot of things; such as Itachi's time in the ANBU, his favourite missions, or fellow shinobi he couldn't stand. Naruto didn't like to talk about personal things, so he told him of his ANBU missions, too, new jutsus he had learned, or he just listened and didn't say anything.
Itachi cooking for him was something new, though. But not unpleasant at all. The Jinchuuriki had had the last hot meal two days ago and if Itachi hadn't shown up tonight, he would have gone to bed without dinner once again.
The table was set and Naruto sat down, waiting for Itachi to place a plate in front of him. He had switched on the lamp hanging over the table, while Naruto had been in the bathroom. The blond looked at his plate, frowning.
Itachi had taken off his Akatsuki cloak and hung it over the back of his chair. It was the first time Naruto saw him without it.
"It's pasta with tomato sauce," the Uchiha explained, "It's a secret family recipe." He winked.
"Tomatoes?" Naruto questioned, a sad smile appeared on his lips. "You know, tomatoes always remind me –"
"– of Sasuke," Itachi finished for him, the same sad smile gracing his lips. "I know. It was his favourite dish. Our mother used to make it for us all the time."
He sighed and his eyes seemed to look inwards for a moment, while he remembered his childhood. Before the massacre.
Naruto swallowed. Tomatoes. He could picture Sasuke in his head, biting into a round, red tomato. He would laugh at him for his love for the red vegetables. Or was it fruits? He had no idea. Sasuke had always corrected him. And in turn glared at him for only eating ramen. He had never agreed to trying ramen. He had been so stubborn about it. Even at Ichiraku's during lunch with Team Seven, Sasuke was the only one not eating anything because he refused to try the salty noodles his rival loved so much. So in turn, Naruto had been just as stubborn and never actually tried a tomato. Even when Sasuke had offered one to him. And Sasuke rarely offered anything to anyone.
But no, Naruto wouldn't try tomatoes unless Sasuke tried ramen.
So what now? Was he going to cling to an old rivalry? Not trying the meal Itachi had prepared for him, just because Sasuke had been too stubborn to eat ramen?
Naruto chuckled softly, shaking his head. No. The time of their rivalry was gone. Hell, even the time of their friendship or any bond at all was gone.
Bemused, Naruto snorted. He picked up his chop-sticks and aimed for a piece of tomato. Eyeing the red fruit – or vegetable, whatever – he placed it on his tongue.
Itachi watched the young man go through some internal fight, but finally eating. Anxiously, he waited for his reaction.
"Wow," Naruto mumbled between bites, "this is really good!"
Why had he so vehemently refused to try this during their childhood? Tomatoes were really not that bad. Actually, he liked the taste. Besides, it reminded him of Sasuke.
Itachi smiled at the childish display, but also figured that the boy must be quite hungry after just returning from a mission.
They finished their meal in silence. Naruto sighed tiredly and placed his elbow on the table, supporting his head with his hand. He looked at the raven and smiled.
"Thanks, Itachi," he said genuinely, "You're the first person to ever only cook for me."
Well, technically, Kakashi had cooked for him several times already during the time he had stayed at his place, but this was something else.
Itachi's onyx eyes widened a fraction in surprise. That had not been his motivation, but he was glad that he had managed to make the other man happy. The blond had grown on him surprisingly quickly. People who knew Itachi, would never call him a social person. But he felt strangely at ease with this straight-forward blond. He could clearly see now, why Sasuke considered him his best friend.
Which brought him to the reason for his late-night visit.
At the same time in River Country, close to the border of Wind Country:
Karin was listlessly eating her rice. They had made camp for the night close to a small fishing village. They had travelled a vast distance in the last two months since they had been in Lightning Country.
Sasuke was more restless than ever and when he wasn't training and working himself close to unconsciousness every evening, they roamed the Elemental Nations; on a constant search for Uchiha Itachi.
Karin prayed to Kami that Juugo and Suigetsu would return from their trip to the small village with some news on Sasuke's criminal brother.
As if Kami had heard her unspoken words, the bushes behind the redhead rustled and her two team mates stepped into the camp.
Sasuke looked up from his untouched bowl of rice, expectantly.
Suigetsu slumped down close to the fire and Juugo joined him. The water-boy helped himself to some rice and looked at it with the same distaste that could be seen on all other faces.
He felt his boss's glare on him and sighed. "Man, I hate rice," he whined, knowing very well that he was tempting Sasuke's patience.
Humouring the raven, Juugo opened his mouth and spoke in his gentle voice, "There were news on the Akatsuki."
Sasuke's face remained blank, no hint whether he was interested or not. But his team knew that the boy was indeed more than interested in any news on the organisation his brother belonged to.
"Man, Sasuke, we had to talk to some really shady people to get this information," Suigetsu whined again. Next to him, Karin snorted at his comment about 'shady people'. She definitely counted Team Taka to the category of 'shady people'.
"The townspeople didn't know anything, but we met this guy in a bar and he apparently knew this guy, who knew those other people, who knew something and –"
"Get to the point, Suigetsu," Sasuke warned lowly.
"Erm, right. So rumour has it that two members of the Akatsuki were killed in Wind Country. Two months ago. But there were no signs of battle and no witnesses. And nobody knows, who killed them."
Sasuke thought about it for a moment. He knew who the members of Akatsuki were; thanks to Orochimaru being a former member. The Snake Sannin hated the organisation nearly as much as he hated Konoha and had often made snide comments about them.
"Did he say which members were killed?" the raven asked.
"Yeah, Sasori and Deidara," Suigetsu replied, not really knowing anything about these two, but he was sure that Sasuke could make use of the names.
Sasuke shrugged. Unimportant. "Anything else?" Any news on Itachi?
Suigetsu felt the need to take his eyes off his boss and just shook his head. No news on Itachi. As per usual.
Sasuke's scowled and Karin felt the darkness in his chakra raising its head.
She contemplated their situation. They had been travelling together for a little over half a year now. And they had not even come close to finding Itachi in all this time. Was the older Uchiha really so good at hiding? Or did he actually keep track of their own movements? Purposefully going where they were not?
Karin found that explanation more likely with every day. Itachi must know that his little brother was out to kill him. Karin saw the reason for the older one to avoid Sasuke. She would certainly do the same in his place. And apparently, Itachi didn't have a death wish just yet. So they would probably keep chasing him until they were old and grey.
Karin sweat-dropped at her own depressive thoughts. At first, she had been so happy that Sasuke had chosen her and taken her with him on his quest. Suigetsu constantly teased her about her too obvious crush on the Uchiha. And frankly, she saw that maybe she was seeing the dark boy through rose-coloured glasses.
Sasuke was troubled, even unstable at times. The darkness around him was growing with every passing day. It was only a matter of time until the Uchiha's unpredictability became dangerous to the people around him.
What would they do then? She really hoped that they found his brother soon. Sasuke could kill him and finally get his revenge. And then...
And then?
Karin's eyes widened in sudden confusion, which caused her glasses to slide down on her nose. Impatiently, she pushed them back up and her head snapped up to look at Sasuke.
The raven was staring into the dancing flames of their camp fire, obviously lost in his own thoughts.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" she asked hesitantly. There was no reaction, so she called his name again, a bit louder this time.
He lifted his head, black eyebrows languidly raised in question.
"Sasuke-kun, I was wondering..." she trailed off, but seeing his relatively calm gaze transform into an impatient glare, she quickly continued. "What are we going to do once you killed Itachi?"
The redhead made sure to phrase her words in a way that didn't reveal her personal doubts about ever actually finding the older Uchiha, let alone Sasuke killing him.
The younger Uchiha's glare transformed into a thoughtful frown. He had been entertaining the idea of returning to Konoha since the ramen incident in Lightning Country two months ago. But it still was only a thought, a nice idea. He couldn't return until they had found Itachi.
He had left his home with one goal. Revenge.
His decision was weighing heavy on his heart. But he knew what he needed to do to find peace. At least, he hoped that fulfilling his revenge was what would make his mind find peace.
Karin's question went unanswered.
Sasuke knew that speaking his idea of going back to Konoha out loud, would only further weaken his already dwindling resolve.
In Konoha, Naruto's apartment:
The blond sighed and ran a hand through his still wet hair. Naruto had known the day to fulfil his promise to Itachi would come eventually. But hearing it out of the raven's mouth was making it seem so... final.
He had tried to prepare himself for the day to go rescue Sasuke by trying to ban his former from his mind. It had clearly failed. He was not prepared.
Naruto was grateful for the fact that Itachi had said it would still be some weeks until he would send for him to come for Sasuke. So he had another 'some weeks' to mentally prepare himself for the dreaded confrontation.
The boy rolled his tense shoulders and looked at the older raven, who was still sitting at his kitchen table. Itachi was looking at him, apologetically. But Naruto had promised and everyone knew that... that Uzumaki Naruto never went back on his word. That's my stupid nindo.
They sat in silence. Naruto's tea grew cold, but he didn't mind. He had lost his appetite anyway. After hearing the other news Itachi had had for him.
As troubled as he felt, his eyelids became heavy and eventually he felt his eyes droop close. He barely heard how Itachi pushed back his chair and walked around the table to gently lift him up.
Naruto was too exhausted after the mission and the conversation with Itachi, both physically and mentally, to care about being carried to bed like a child – by a man he had once considered one of his greatest enemies, no less. Not that he could actually make the connection, since no-one had ever been there to carry him to bed when he had been little.
Itachi carefully placed the half-sleeping young man on the unmade bed. The raven smiled at his still form, as he tucked him in. The last person he had tucked in like that had been his little brother. The smile on his lips faltered, a look of pure sadness and regret in his onyx eyes.
Soon, little brother. We will safe you soon, just wait, Itachi thought as he listened to Naruto's regular breathing.
(1) Kamui: Using the ability granted to him by his Mangekyō Sharingan, Kakashi can create a barrier sending everything within its vicinity to another dimension. He can also control the size of the barrier.
Thanks for reading, first of all! I hope you liked to get some news on Sasuke!
Chapter 13 turned out to have over 13k words and it wasn't even completely finished yet... so I had to split it up at this point. I told some of you that Naruto and Sasuke will meet again in Chap 15... so that's now Chap 16! But that's my final word now! So, NARUTO AND SASUKE meet again in CHAPTER 16 !
But major things are going to happen in the next two chapters before that!
Since I actually wrote chapters 13 and 14 as one, chapter 14 is almost finished. So I'm hoping to update again before Christmas. But I can't make promises, because I actually have to study.
I kind of dislike using the cliché of Sasuke having nightmares... but I planned it like this from the start, so he's stuck with them. For now.
Tell me how you liked it, please!
There are already some important hints in this chapter... I never write anything without a reason, as unimportant as it seems...
Next chapter: What is Naruto hiding from his team mates? And why is he so irritated?
Oh and is anyone reading the latest chapters of the manga? If not, then skip this paragraph! Spoilers! But am I the only one wondering where the hell Madara/Tobi/No-One/Whoever that guy is nowadays is getting all the Rinnegan and Sharingan from? Seriously, does he have some kind of secret rinnegan factory? I thought these eyes were like super rare...
Have a nice Christmas time, hopefully less stressful than my own! :)
xXHaneliXx