Yo. Sorry that i've been taking so long to update, guys. With school and theater, my schedule's been pretty packed. Not to mention I might have the Flu. -_- Sucks to suck.
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"A mile ahead, huh?" Naruto mutters to himself, his breath coming out in pants. He's been running for a while now, about a good thirty minutes, yet he still can't seem to find the building. His head is throbbing but he doesn't know why. The shaking stopped a little while after he started to run.
"Sasuke... Don't do anything stupid, please. For me." A shocking pain jolts through his head and he falls to his knees. "Ah!" He clutches his head, bending over.
"You don't have any family! You don't have any parents! How would you know what it's like to lose them all?!"
"Naruto, Sasuke-kun is gone!"
"Those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
Not now... He thinks angrily to himself. Not when Sasuke needs me. He stands shakily and presses onward, his head and heart pounding.
"Forgive me Sasuke... It ends with this." Itachi falls, his face slamming into the wall. Sasuke stays frozen, shell-shocked. Itachi's body lays on the ground, a small pool of blood starting to border his head. Sasuke can still feel where Itachi poked him on his forehead. He slowly slides down the wall. Blood drips down, off of his chin. He stares blankly at the sky, a flurry of emotions tearing through him. Sasuke shuts his eyes.
Itachi... all this time... His vision starts to get blurry. What have you been... It's feels like the life is being sucked out of him, and the world goes dark.
It's cold. Damp. He turns, tries to stretch, but his arms are constricted. When he opens his eyes he's enveloped in a world of pain. He can barely see at first, but once his vision clears he realizes he's not alone.
"Oh. So you're awake now." It's the masked man.
"... Where am I?" Sasuke's voice is harsh and scratchy, but he manages to keep his composure. Images of Itachi flash through his mind. His face goes blank.
"You're safe. Don't worry. But I guess now I should properly introduce myself," He reaches up and behind his head. There's what sounds like a snap, and the mask slowly lowers. Sasuke's eyes widen. Is he going to show me his face? What he sees is more than shocking. He lowers it just enough to see his eyes, exposing his Sharingan.
"My name is Uchiha Madara."
Black flames shoot from Sasuke's position. Tobi, or Madara, is captured by them and stumbles backwards. His mask drops to the ground and Madara is lost in the shadows. Sasuke, upon realizing what just happened, looks down confusedly at his hands. "What was that?" After a few silent moments Madara steps out of the shadows, mask in place, and appears to be un-injured.
"Itachi implanted his Amaterasu in you right before he died." Sasuke thinks back to when Itachi tapped his forehead, and reaches up to touch it.
"Why would he do that?"
"To protect you." Anger sears through him, Sasuke glares at the masked man.
"To protect me?!"
Madara lifts up a steady hand. "Sasuke, there are many things you don't know about your brother. Would you like me to explain?" Sasuke's shoulders shake. He tries once again to release himself from the restraints. The rope scrapes against his skin so he stops.
"No. I don't want to hear one fucking word."
"I'm afraid you have no choice. It's my duty to tell you," Madara takes a seat beside the bed. "Itachi had tried to kill me. He didn't want his precious little brother finding out the true reasoning's for his motives. Uchiha Itachi did indeed kill the Uchiha Clan. But he didn't do it on his own free will and ideals. He was ordered to-," Sasuke's heart nearly stops. "-by the higher ups of Konoha," Madara seems to wait for the information to get through Sasuke's head before continuing. "Let's touch up on a little history, shall we?"
"I was too late." Naruto's voice is hollow. He stands in front of one of the last remaining pieces of the Uchiha hideout. The Uchiha symbol is painted onto the stones, the past of the clan practically aching off of it. It's cold as he presses his hands against the rough wall, the chill of it aching his hands. Thunder rumbles in the distance and rain begins to pour down on him.
"I'm sorry Sasuke," He bows his head. "I wasn't able to help you again." Tears leak out of his eyes, mixing with the water from the sky. The warm and cold feeling reflects off of his emotions. Angry. Angry at himself that he was too late, that he wasn't able to catch up to Sasuke. And sadness. Bitter, dreary sadness. His heart aches and a small sob passes through his lips. He stands like that for who knows how long.
It takes awhile for him to notice, but the rain has stopped. Or at least seemed to. When he looks up his vision is blocked from the sky. Sand? He thinks, reaching up to touch the minuscule grains.
"If you stay out here like this you'll catch a cold." Naruto jolts a little at hearing the voice. It's new, and familiar. Quiet, but yet Naruto can still hear it over the pouring rain. Gentle but sharp. He turns and is met with jade eyes that seem to soften a little. Naruto tilts his head, blinks away the remaining tears in his eyes, and scans over the person. A hand is held out to him.
"I guess you really don't remember me," The guy helps him up and the sand re-adjusts itself. "Sabaku no Gaara. Nice to see you again, Naruto."
Naruto scans his gaze over Gaara once more. "I guess I don't need to introduce myself, huh?"
"Let's get you back to Konoha." Naruto notices they aren't alone. There's a girl and another guy. The girl has her hair up in ponytails, a giant fan is strapped to her back. The guy has weird face paint and a hood covering his head. He has what looks like a person wrapped from head to toe in bandages in his grasp.
"Kankuro, you can put up Crow. Naruto isn't a threat in the state he's in now." The guy smirks and adjusts the "person" onto his back.
"Che. He wouldn't be a threat even with his memories back."
"Oh shut up," The girl sighs and sets a hand on her hip. "Naruto's more than capable of defeating you,"
"Quiet Temari!"
Gaara walks towards them so Naruto does the same. "We're heading back now. Shou, inform the Hokage that Uchiha Sasuke wasn't captured. The mission has been aborted for now. Uzumaki Naruto has been successfully obtained." Naruto jolts as a man appears in front of them. He salutes and then vanishes without a word.
"Don't talk as if i'm not here," Naruto grumbles. He's not in the best mood at losing Sasuke. Pain strikes his heart as he remembers what happened to Sakura. "Did you find her body?" Gaara nods slowly.
"Yes. She hasn't started to rot. She'll have a proper funeral. In fact, Hatake Kakashi was the one to find her."
"Kakashi-sensei...," Naruto bows his head. "What did he say?"
"He's not angry at you. Just upset that he was too late. Sakura had been covering up your trail ever since you two left. She was much more clever than we thought."
"Yeah she was." Naruto murmurs, furrowing his brows.
"Come on then," Gaara tugs Naruto slightly by his elbow. "Let's get going."
I find him sitting on top of the Valley End monument. The rain is pouring down on him but he doesn't seem to care.
"What are you doing up here?" I ask, gazing at him through the hole on my mask. Sasuke lifts his head to the sky.
"Thinking."
"About what?" He falls silent for a moment.
"I'm going to make a trip to Konoha."
"Konoha?," I ask. "Why Konoha?"
Sasuke heaves himself up with his hands on his knees. "I need to speak with him." Ah.
"Fine," He steps next to me, waiting to be transported. "Don't take too long. We need to hurry back to transplant your new eyes."
"Don't worry Naruto!," Ino shakes my shoulder, walking me back to my apartment from Tsuande's office. "Sasuke-kun will come here. I swear." I don't say anything. The pain from losing Sakura and not being able to get Sasuke still making me feel numb. She seems to resign for a second, her shoulders sagging and a wisp of breath leaving her mouth.
"Sakura... Was my best friend." She whispers.
I can't bring my gaze to her. "I know that it didn't seem like the healthiest of friendships... But we really loved each other." She smiles. "Platonically, anyways."
We reach my apartment. "Well!" She sets a gentle hand on my shoulder. "You sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes... I just need to think about this for a bit."
Ino nods. Without another word, she leaves me, the sound of her light footsteps echoing up and through the rain.
I take out my key and open up the door. Stepping inside I slowly shake off my shoes and lock the door with a click. I'm shocked when I hear the soft padding of feet. I stop and look around. I gasp and my heart starts beating wildly when I see his presence.
"Pako!" I scream.
The little Bugg barks and bounds up to me. I fall to my knees and scoop him up. He starts licking my face. Usually I would push him away because his breath stinks, but I just hold onto him. My eyes start to sting.
"Oh Pako i've missed you! I'm so sorry I completely forgot! I need you now more than ever, boy."
He barks again and I carry him into my room. The bed is fixed. The sheets are even changed.
"I guess Iruka had stopped by," Pako leaps out of my arms and lands on the mattress. "You're full of energy, aren't you?"
I join him. My back aches as I lay down, Pako starts jumping around where my head is. Soon he settles down and curls up on my stomach. I ran my hand down his small back, taking in the comfort his soft fur brings me.
Sakura is dead. Sasuke is gone. I want to think i'm all alone. But instead, positive thoughts float into my head, dancing around in my skull.
I have Iruka, and Kakashi-sensei. All my friends are here. And now I even have Pako back! I smile. I wonder who brought him here. Probably Kiba.
For the first time in a while, I don't feel like crying.
/
Okay so I know I said that this was supposed to be the last chapter, but here's why it isn't:
1) I promised a lemon in this story. So if I were to have a lemon in this one, where it is now, it would seem amateur. Not that i'm saying i'm a professional writer or anything of the sort (god no), but I just don't want to end this one on a bad note. I've worked too hard and long on it. (There will be a lemon though)
2) The ending that I had in mind ended up not working out with the lemon, so I came up with another, sweet way to end it. It might not be a while until the ending, though. :3
Sorry for the really late updates. I've been occupied with school, and i'm going to New York this summer so i'm preparing for that.
I'll try to update as soon as I can!
Oh and another thing: I'm going to be editing this story. Not changing it, but just fixing grammar mistakes and stuff.
