Unwavering Gaze - Chapter 26

I shouldered a pack filled with clothing and a few personal items with my chokuto in its rightful place at my back instead of where it had been at my bedside. I then shifted my gaze back to my bed with its crumpled sheets, and a nude body still laid out upon them as if beckoning me to return. My cold gaze grazed over every contour of that body as if to memorize before settling on irises of a striking shade of blue.

Turning to leave, I anticipated a grab of my forearm, which came as if on cue with a sharp jerk back into the warm strength of tanned skin and sinewy muscles. He looked fierce and intense with his messy blonde locks in disarray as his grip tightened on my slack arm that he held against his nude body. He released me and looked away when my gaze befell his eyes full of heavy emotion. He then blinked and all that emotion was released and determination presided as he began to speak, "You were my first true friend. If it weren't for you, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan, things may not have turned out so good for me."

My felt my eyes shift to crimson at my whim, "Naruto, what I do is not your concern."

He glared, but released my arm as if burned, "I want to come with you." His voice was calm, yet his eyes smoldered with a ferocious ferocity as though his determination was fueled by some inner force.

"You'll be protected here."

"I can hold my own! I'm not weak, TE-!"

I grabbed his face mid-shout and jerked him toward me to gaze deeply into his eyes one last time before he was caught in a simple genjutsu that led Naruto to believe that I would let him tag along. His eyes slid shut as he was caught in the jutsu, the illusion taking over his senses and mind.

Genjutsu was never your strong point Naruto.

My hand fell from his face the fingertips and thumb brushing the soft skin of both cheeks as they slid away from the blonde's warmth. My perceptive eyes roamed over his lax features, over his scarred cheeks, his closed eyelids, his pink slightly parted lips before I turned and left him in my room.

Once outside I sprinted away to where I knew the team I'd assembled would be waiting. Hebi had patience if they waited this long for action to present itself.

I was sure Itachi would make his move, unfortunately I had been wrong, and though my calculations had been off nothing had been gained or lost for the duration of my short stay at Konoha so it was not entirely a bad move on my part.

I frowned at the thought of what had transpired between Sakura and I as well as Naruto and I. I knew before I had stepped foot into Konohagakure that there would be interaction between the people I once knew to be friends, enemies, and that certain relationships had since gone sour after I left. What had happened, though was the least expected of situations that probably would have never crossed my mind had I not been there to see and feel it happen, reinforced my reserve to complete my life's goals. I also knew if I did not complete them as soon as possible, unforeseen life altering repercussions would take place and forever be set in stone. The thought of more tombstones engraved with names I was not only familiar with, but intimate with would surely break what was the remnants of me. Though, bodies strewn and lifeless in front of my eyes as my parent's bodies, would destroy me.

Gritting my teeth I sped up my pace.

Why had I been so weak…so careless as to invite him to sleep in my bed?

Seventeen days ago, we were both dead tired. I hadn't slept in four days often disappearing at night to meet up with Hebi to discuss observations of different scouting locations each were designated, and during the day I was constantly accompanied by either Naruto or Sakura. Not so much Sakura as Naruto, but it was evident that she missed me just the same as Naruto had.

That day so long ago was clear in my mind as the day we went a bit too far during a short sparring session, I had gotten under the blonde's thick skin and pissed him off with some cocky remark. In my transformed figure, though not using any jutsu he had not yet experienced, Naruto had summoned the Kyuubi's chakra and sprouted more tails than I had seen before and his form changed dramatically as he howled and charged. This form did not faze me, yet I knew he was no longer Naruto and was consumed by Kyuubi's rage.

From my sleeves thick snakes wrapped themselves around Naruto's burning flesh, catching him mid-leap in his effort to attack me. On contact the snakes themselves began to burn and a rancid stench filled the air as I spoke one soothing word as he thrashed among the twisted coiling bodies of the snakes that held him a mere foot away, I leaned forward, "Naruto."

His seemingly sightless eyes widened then slid halfway shut, and his flesh began to heal before my eyes as his body slumped in the twisted snakes that held him then gently laid his limp body on the ground and slithered back from where they had sprung forth.

Naruto recovered quickly yet was out of it for several minutes before coming to. He admitted to not know what had happened, though he was very tired. He had insisted that I take him home after many failed attempts to walk straight, but of course I held him up and took him to my home where I invited him into my bed to watch over him.

The experience with another body so close to mine in such an intimate setting was not awkward at all as I had thought, and was more comforting than I had imagined. As I watched his gentle features flicker with emotion every so often in the dim light seeping through my bedroom window as he slept, I came to the conclusion that I craved another night to view this spectacle. That second night turned to three, then four. After watching Naruto's sleeping form for what seemed like mere minutes, it calmed me enough to really sleep as I hadn't in years.

But, it did not last long as one of my oldest problems made itself known: Itachi.

My past was my bondage that held me from my future. Bondage wound intricate and taut to keep me in place, in my place.

My eyes grew hard and my heart grew cold; my face slipped into an unreadable mask.

Itachi haunted my mind morning, day, and night with the images he so artistically created with a sure unforgiving hand and our parent's as well as relative's blood, flesh, and bodies. He made sure those scenes replayed themselves over and over on repeat day in and day out, for that my emotions became callous and mercy I would not know the definition of when it would come to his last moments.

My nostrils flared as I inhaled deeply at that thought, yes…it would be oh so soon now.